Losing Control
by kittensandcombatboots
Summary: After being changed by a nonvegetarian vampire shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Bella finds herself with the Denali clan. Tonya suggests that she go stay with the Cullens to learn control over her bloodlust and her gift. AU
1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: Here's my new fanfic. I don't know that I can top "Shopping With Rose" and "Maybe It's Fate", but hopefully you all will like it.

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I have been a vampire eleven months. Compared to Tanya, who has been alive, dead, whatever, hundreds of years, or even to Adianna, the vampire who changed me, my life has been short. But in those eleven months I feel like I've lived more than I had in my previous sixteen human years. 

I don't remember much of my human life, I'm still surprsied by how quickly those memories have faded. Most of what I know about my last days of humanity was told to me by Adianna and Dake. For the first few months, we were together, a family, but when Dake was killed by a rival vampire, Adianna went into a frenzy. She swore her revenge. I don't blame her for that. I'm sure if someone killed my mate, I'd do the same, but I couldn't stay with her. She became violent and controlling towards me.

After being forced to kill for the fifteenth time, I ran. It was several days after the feeding, though, as human blood made me ill. Even as a vampire, I despised the stuff. But I suffered through my distaste and even my guilt for killing, because I didn't know there were other options, until I met Tanya.

Tanya and her coven welcomed me with open arms. They taught me their ways, feeding on animals and co-existing with humans. To be perfectly honest, I was fascinated. All the other vampires I had been around were nomads. Tanya and her family lived in a permanent settlement. Kate and Irina became like sisters to me. I spent hours being tortured. They dressed me up and pranced me around the house. I loved them.

So, when Tonya suggested that I go live with another family of vegetarian vampires, I was devastated. I had only spent three months with my new family and they were already sick of me. They were shipping me off to live in some tiny Washington town with people, vampires, that I didn't even know. Where was the love?

I spent four days and nights locked in my room wishing that I could cry. But I couldn't, so I sat there and dwelled on my cursed existence. Finally, getting tired of my pouting, Tanya broke down my door.

"Bella, you have to understand that I didn't suggest the Cullens, because I didn't want you here. Carlisle and his family are good friends of mine. I trust and respect them. I think you would enjoy them and I know that they will enjoy you. Plus, I think they could help you develop your ability. Edward, Alice, and Jasper all have abilities too." She smiled hesitantly at me.

"Fine," I said still pouting.

"And if you really don't like it, you are always welcome here. We love you."

"Anything I should know about these people?" Tanya smiled wide then, knowing that I was agreeing to go.

She launched into a huge discussion of the Cullens, which everyone else joined in as well. After twelve hours of talking, I felt better about going. Tanya had told me each person and their gift, as well as which had extra abilities. I learned that Carlisle was compassionate and that Esme was loving. Kate told me to compliment Rosalie's beauty as soon as I walked threw the door and that Emmett would probably try to embarrass me within the first five minutes. Alice could see the future and loved shopping with a passion. Jasper could control emotions and was a scholar. They also pointed out the couples. Finally, they talked about Edward. Apparently, he was quite a hit with the Denali women. Edward could read minds and he was alone. He had been since he was changed. And each of my sisters wanted him.

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A/N: Thanks to Ginormous Funtastic Everything for all the help. Review and tell me what you think. Lay it on me. I promise I won't cry, okay maybe I will, but I won't tell any of you that. So, yeah, review. 


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: Thanks to my awesome beta who helped my get this chapter finished. I don't know what I would have done without your help.

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I sat on the ground in the middle of the forest, just thinking. I was about ten miles away from the Cullen house, I knew that from Tanya's directions. Wanting to remain unnoticed, I stayed far enough away that they couldn't catch my scent. 

As I sat there, I felt like I was losing control. I laughed bitterly at that thought. As if I ever had control.

From the very little I remembered about my human existence, I knew that I didn't have any control over what happened. If I did, maybe I could have stopped that car from hitting me the night after my sixteenth birthday. I had just gotten my liscense and I wanted icecream, so I ran to a little grocery store a mile away. On the way there, some idiot sideswiped me and then took off. That's when Dake and Adianna found me.

I couldn't control what happened next either. Dake couldn't control his bloodlust. He bit me. Luckily, or unluckily, Adianna pulled him off of me before he could kill me. And so began my long and painful process of becoming a vampire. Had Adianna not had her gift, I wouldn't have survived. Adianna could split herself into two forms, two bodies. When I asked her about it, she said that she experienced the sensations of both forms, sight, touch, taste, smell. She had double the experiences, but both forms were her.

Adianna's gift helped me in another way. She helped me discover mine. Sadly, I had to use it to escape her. Adi was once my sister, my best friend, but I just couldn't live with her anymore, not after everything she had done to me.

I heard a rustle in the trees. Instinctively, I leapt to my feet and got into a crouching stance. A sweet scent filled my senses. Vampire. Lots of them, maybe six or more. And then I saw them. Seven of the most beautiful vampires I had ever seen. A blonde-haired man stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm Carlisle. I assume that you are Isabella." They all looked at me expectantly.

"Bella," I corrected him and then flinched. I looked away. I didn't mean to speak out of turn. I didn't want him to hurt me.

When my eyes returned to him, his weren't full of anger like I expected. Instead, they were full of sympathy. Great, I was being pitied. Tanya must have told him about my prior treatment.

A beautiful women stepped up next to Carlisle. I knew from Tanya's description that this was Esme. She extended he hand, which I gladly took.

"We are thrilled that you will be staying with us, Dear."

"Thank you, ma'am." I didn't fail to notice the look she gave Carlisle. She looked worried.

Before the others could introduce themselves, I stepped in. "I've been told so much about you all. I feel as though I already know you."

Emmett, the bulging muscles gave him away, stepped forward. "Oh, yeah, what did they say about me?"

"That you are a hot head and love to humiliate people," I mummbled. Emmett wrapped me in his arms, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"I do love to humiliate people. I will you get, new little sis. That's a warning." I couldn't help but laugh at him. Emmett seemed delighted at my response to him. He let me down.

"They also told me that your wife is Rosalie. They said I would know her instantly, because she would be the most beautiful vampire I'd ever seen." Rosalie smiled at me and took her place beside her husband. I'd managed to make it through four introductions without being hit, only three left.

A sugar rush in the form of a short vampire stepped forward next. She had short black hair.

"I'm Alice. We are going to have so much fun, Bella. I know, because I'm a psychic. Did they tell you that? Oh, and this is Jasper, my husband. He can control emotions and right now he is trying to calm me down, but it's not working, becuase I am so excited to meet you." Her words came out quickly and with intermittent squeals of joy. A smile involuntarily crossed my face.

"Yes, Alice, they told me all about you being a psychic. And about your love of shopping. And about Jasper." This seemed to satisfy her. She grabbed Jasper's hand, who flashed me an apologetic smile. Only one left.

I felt everyone's gaze on me as the last Cullen stepped forward to introduce himself. As he stepped forward, I got a better view of his face. Only two thoughts crossed my mind and they each fought for dominace. The first was 'wow'. The second was 'Tanya lied. Rosalie is not the most beautiful vampire I had ever seen'.

"Hello, my name is Edward," he said in a polite tone. His topaz eyes bore holes into mine. I couldn't look away, not that I wanted to. I don't know what happened while I stood there lost in his eyes. Aliens could have invaded. Years could have passed. But nothing else registered.

Finally, he spoke again, "I can't hear your thoughts." That woke me up. I had forgotten all about him being able to read minds. I had been thinking some very...personal things about him and I was really thankful for his inability to read my mind.

"Good," I said automatically. Jasper caught my eye and smiled at me. Stupid empath could tell I was embarrassed.

I looked back at Edward and it felt like electricity was running through me. I wanted, I needed, to touch him. It became so strong that I knew I wasn't going to be able to control myself soon. I did the only thing I could do. I ran.

"I'm going for a quick hunt. Meet you all back at the house," I said, but I was already gone. After pushing myself deeper into the forests, I sat again.

Pulling out the small silver phone Tanya had given me, I called my family. Kate answered. The sound of her voice made me want to cry. I had barely been gone a day and I already didn't know how I was going to survive.

"Did you meet them yet? Do they love you?"

"I can't do this Kate. Can I come home?" I was whining, I know, but even with the beautiful vampire, the funny vampire, the psychic vampire, and the empathic vampire, I still wanted to be in my bed watching horror movies with Irina.

"Bella, please, give it a chance. Did you meet Edward?" Even all alone, I was thankful I couldn't blush anymore, because I most certainly would be if I were a human.

"Yes, Kate, but I made a fool of myself. He probably won't ever speak to me. And he doesn't have any reason to. He is gorgeous and I'm me. Even bcoming a vampire couldn't make me more beautiful."

"Oh, you little liar, you know that you rival Tanya in the looks department. You are amazing Bella. He would be lucky to have you."

"Who said I wanted him?" I joked. Kate lauighed.

"We all want him, Sweetie. I just think you might be the one to get him."

"Oh, very funny, Kate. Like there is any reason Edw-oh crap." I caught his scent just seconds before I saw him. He was too close. He had to of heard me. "I got to go, Kate." Edward Cullen, more beautiful than any Greek god, stood in front of me.

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A/N: Review and tell me what you think. Do you all still like it? 


	3. Leaving

Disclaimer: Twilight and all it's characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I will work on making the chapters longer for you all. Oh, and Ginormous Funtastic Everything there is alittle surprise at the end that you didn't get to edit. Hopefully, you aren't too mad at me.

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Edward's POV 

We all sat in the living room awaiting the arrival of our newest family member. When Tanya suggested that we take in a young vampire, everyone was excited. We hadn't had a new family member in decades. We hoped that this girl would become part of the family, become a sister to us. Well, I hoped she would become like a sister to me. Everyone else, seemed to think that I was going to marry her. I hadn't even met the girl and they were already planning the wedding.

Alice had a vision and I saw what she saw. Surrounded by trees, a vampire sat. She had a heart shaped face and long curly brown hair. The young vampire just sat there. I thought that she looked sad. Alice explained the situation and we all agreed to go out and meet our new family member.

We followed her scent, a captivating floral scent, into the woods. When we found her, she was in an attack crouch. She relaxed slightly when Carlisle stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm Carlisle. I assume that you are Isabella." Everyone was staring at the poor girl.

"Bella," she corrected, but flinched.

_I knew she had been beaten by her first coven, but I never expected her to be afraid to even speak, _Carlisle thought. I felt a growl rise up in me, but surpressed it. I didn't like the idea of anyone hurting her.

"We are thrilled that you will be staying with us, Dear." Esme took her hand.

"Thank you, ma'am," Bella answered softly. Esme looked at Carlisle.

_She seems so hesitant. Does she not like us? Or is she afraid of us?_

"I've been told so much about you all. I feel as though I already know you," Bella said boldly. She surprised us all by being so forward.

Emmett, being the idiot that he was, called her out. "Oh, yeah, what did they say about me?"

"That you are a hot head and love to humiliate people," she mummbled. I smiled at that. How right she was.

Emmett threw his arms around Bella. "I do love to humiliate people. I will get you, new little sis. That's a warning."

And then she laughed. I can't even put into words how melodious the sound was. And I tried not to dwell on the fact that I wanted to hear her laugh again.

"They also told me that your wife is Rosalie. They said I would know her instantly, because she would be the most beautiful vampire I'd ever seen." Bella hit the jackpot with this one. Rosalie would love her for all eternity. Rose stepped up next to her husband and wrapped her arm around him.

Alice's thoughts became a jumble of incoherent words, phrases, and images. She danced forward to introduce herself to Bella.

"I'm Alice. We are going to have so much fun, Bella. I know, because I'm a psychic. Did they tell you that? Oh, and this is Jasper, my husband. He can control emotions and right now he is trying to calm me down, but it's not working, becuase I am so excited to meet you." I felt Jasper's calming waves from where I stood, but they really didn't seem to be having any effect on Alice at all. Bella smiled and if I would have needed to breathe, I wouldn't have been able to.

"Yes, Alice, they told me all about you being a psychic. And about your love of shopping. And about Jasper." Jasper smiled at her. He already liked her. The whole family already liked her, even though Carlisle and Esme were still worried about her.

I was the only one who hadn't introduced myself. Hesitantly, my family's voices flooding my head, I stepped forward.

"Hello, my name is Edward." As I stared into her eyes, shining topaz with only a hint of red remaining on the edges, I realized that I couldn't hear what she was thinking. I looked at her more intently, but still nothing. "I can't hear your thoughts."

"Good," she said quickly. Jasper looked at her. _She is so embarrassed. I wonder what she was thinking about, Edward?_

That thought made me nervous. Was she thinking about me? She couldn't have been. Sure, I was standing right in front of her, but why would thinking about me be embarrassing?

She looked back at me with those tortureous eyes, her lips in a slight frown. I wanted to kiss her. I didn't even know her, but it didn't matter. Balling my hands in fists to keep me from touching her, I stared back. Suddenly, she turned and ran.

"I'm going for a quick hunt. Meet you all back at the house."

Emmett was the first one to comment, out loud atleast. "I don't know why she ran away. Edward's not that ugly."

"Shut up, Emmett," four vampires said at once. Carlisle and Esme always stayed out of our fights, unless they were life threatening or annoying.

"Edward," Alice said. I turned to look at her. "You should follow Bella. I have a feeling that she's going to try and run back to Tanya."

"You have a feeling?" When she said she had a feeling, it really meant 'I had a vision that this was going to happen.' I must have been to caught up in my own thoughts to see it.

"Just go, Edward," Alice ordered. I looked at Carlisle who nodded his head. So, I took off after her.

I followed her scent, her mouth-watering scent, but stopped when I heard her voice.

"I can't do this Kate. Can I come home?" She sounded like she really didn't want to be here. Alice or not, maybe we should just let her go where she feels comfortable.

"Yes, Kate, but I made a fool of myself. He probably won't ever speak to me. And he doesn't have any reason to. He is gorgeous and I'm me. Even becoming a vampire couldn't make me more beautiful." What is she talking about? She didn't make a fool of herself in front of anyone. Everyone loved her. And what was this nonsense about her not being beautiful. Obviously, she didn't see herself very clearly.

"Who said I wanted him?" She laughed again. And I dead, unbeating heart seemed to jump.

"Oh, very funny, Kate. Like there is any reason Edw-oh crap." She started to say my name. Why did she stop? She must have caught my scent.

I stepped out of the trees as she said goodbye to Kate. Bella looked at me nervously. I sat on the ground beside her, so that I wouldn't be tempted to get lost in her eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" she whispered. I didn't want Bella to be nervous around me, but she seemes so tense. Maybe I should just leave.

"Alice sent me. She said that you might try to go back to Tanya's."

"So, I'm a prisoner here?" She turned to look at me, sadness in her eyes.

"No. You are free to leave whenever you wish. We only hoped that you would stay. If you really are unhappy, then I'll drive you back to Denali myself," I offered. I didn't want her to go, but I didn't want her to be miserable either.

"Really?" she asked. Bella bit her lip and I nodded. "I might take you up on that offer someday, but not today. I'm exhausted. I just want to go lay down and rest."

I was thrilled that she was staying. "Follow me, Alice has a room set up for you. She assured us that you would love it." Bella smiled and we ran back to the house.

About a mile away, we slowed down to a jog. I looked at Bella and she looked away from me. This repeated itself several times.

"So, you can't read my thoughts, right?" she asked.

"No, I cannot read your thoughts."

"Even now or just back in the woods?" Why would I only be able to read her thoughts part of the time? Why couldn't I read them at all?

"I couldn't then and I can't now," I answered with a slight frown.

"Good." She sounded relieved.

"Why don't you want me to hear your thoughts?" Okay, that was a stupid question. I didn't want anyone to hear my thoughts, especially the ones I'd been having since I met Bella.

"Obvious reasons. I want to be able to be alone in my own head. You can't imagine how embarrassing it would be to have someone know everything you are thinking."

"And you can't imagine how embarrassing it is to hear what everyone is thinking," I replied.

Bella looked over at me, her eyes shining. She smiled. "Touche." I smiled, unable to stop. We were both smiling when we entered the house.

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A/N: I don't know if you are aware of this, but I happen to like reviews. They make me hyper in the way that energy drinks cannot. So, reviewing would be nice. 


	4. Alone

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. That means that they aren't mine.

A/N: I'm sorry this one is alittle shorter than some of the others, but I promise Edward's POV of what's happening will be coming up quickly. And I think, not sure, but I think his will be longer.

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Bella's POV

The Cullen house was amazing. I had barely seen the outside, only brief glances whenever I managed to pry my eyes away from Edward. But the inside was beautiful. Light streamed in from the large wall-sized window, illuminating everything. It was open and inviting. At the same time, though, I felt safe, protected.

The wonderful ball of energy named Alice took my hand and practically flew up the stairs. I followed, unable to loosen her grip on me. We passed through long tan colored hallways, passing white door after white door. All of a sudden, we stopped. In front of us stood a plain door, no different from the ones we had already passed. It was nothing special, but when Alice opened the door, I gasped. It was like the room was tailor-made for me.

"This is mine?" I asked as I spun around the room, taking everything in.

"Yes. It is all yours."

The walls were covered in dark wood and pictures of sunsets cluttered the wall next to my huge bed. It looked so comfortable, even though I knew I wouldn't be sleeping on it. I reached down to the floor, running my hands through the thick golden carpet. There was a large plasma screen tv on one of my walls. I had my own bathroom at on end of my room. At the other end stood two doors. When I pulled them open it revealed a walk-in closet that was already half stocked.

"Whose clothes are these?" I asked.

"Yours. We'll have to go shopping and get you more, but that should last us a few days."

I eyed the bed. I knew what I wanted to do, but it seemed childish. I looked at Alice. She smiled. "If you want, I'll do it with you."

"Yes!" I squealed in delight and then I smiled. I realized that I was actually happy. I grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her up to my bed. We started jumping up and down carefully. As fun as it was, I didn't want to break my new bed. We started giggling.

Out of nowhere, a pillow hit me in the head. "Alice!" She smiled innocently as I grabbed a pillow as well. Alice was quick, but I was quicker. By the time our fight was over with, Alice and I lay across my bed exhausted and my pillows were destroyed. I'd have to ask Esme to buy me new ones.

"That was so much fun," I whispered, knowing that she would hear me.

"I told you that we would have fun," she whispered back. I grinned excitedly.

"What else can we do for fun?" We were off the bed in an instant. Alice pulled me into her room. And it really was her room. There weren't any traces that Jasper had ever even been in that room, let alone shared it with her. The walls were pink, except for the wall sized window that must run all the way up the south side of the house. Her bedspread was aqua and the pillows were lime green.

Alice sat me in a chair and started brushing out my hair. I glared at her. "Bella, I promise you that you will look gorgeous." I frowned. Alice leaned in very close, so there was no way anyone else could possibly hear our conversation. "Edward will love it."

I nearly jumped out of the seat. Lucky for me, Alice had a firm grip on my shoulders. There was no escaping this. Atleast here there was only one vampire who wanted to torture me.

"Alice! Were you seriously going to give Bella a make over and not tell me? I'm hurt." Rosalie stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips, pouting. I stand corrected, everyone wants to torture me.

"I'll do her hair, you do her makeup," Alice stated and Rosalie nodded. This wasn't fun. This was the opposite of fun. It was bad, mean, vile, awful.

"Why do you both hate me?" I whispered. My new sisters burst out laughing. I failed to see the humor.

"Oh, silly Bella, we don't hate you. We absolutely love you, that's why we are doing this. Trust us," Alice said with a smile. Rosalie just nodded at everything she said.

"I'd rather not," I muttered angrily.

"Fine," Alice stated. She was glaring. This was not a pretty sight. I must have offended her. Me and my stupid big mouth had gotten me into trouble once again. I didn't want to leave, I had only just gotten here. Now, she hated me. I might as well leave now.

Alice's eyes went blank and she started to fall over. Out of nowhere, Jasper caught her. When I looked back around, the rest of the family was standing in the room. Alice and Edward were staring at me. I hated the look in their eyes. It was a cross between disappointment, sadness, and pity.

"Bella, please don't go. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I didn't mean it, honest. Will you forgive me?"

"Why are you apologizing to me, Alice? You did nothing wrong. I was the one that was being a brat. You and your family have been nothing but kind to me and look at how I repay you. I'm a horrible sister. I don't deserve any of you." I stood from the chair, aware of all their eyes on me.

"Bella," Edward said, his voice sad.

"Please, don't."

I locked myself in my room. For days I didn't come out. I just sat, staring out the window into the forests that surrounded the perfect house. It really was a perfect house with a perfect little vampire family. I was the only thing that was out of place here. I didn't belong with the Cullens any more than I belonged with the family in Denali or Adianna and Dake or even with my human parents. I didn't fit, I never seemed to fit. And nothing could change that.

I sat there wishing that Dake would have killed me. My life would have ended like it was supposed to. I wouldn't have to spend an eternity in hell on earth.

After five days, someone broke my door down. When I looked up, my breath caught. Edward threw me over his shoulder and carried me downstairs. I didn't even bother kicking or screaming. It wouldn't matter or do any good. He sat me in his car and drove off.

"Where are we going?" I asked after an hour of driving.

He didn't even look at me as he answered, "Alaska."

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A/N: You guys are amazing at reveiwing. So keep up your awesome skill. 


	5. Kidnapper

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: A lot of people preferred Edward's POV to Bella's, but this story will be in both. I might even throw in a few of the other Cullens and Tanya and her family. We will all just have to wait and see.

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EPOV 

Alice's vision hit me hard. I felt like I couldn't breathe, not that I needed to. She was going to leave. Why did I care so much about a girl I hardly knew? I had no idea. All I knew was that I couldn't just let her go. I took off running, Jasper following my fear. He caught Alice before she could hit the floor. I sensed the rest of my family behind me. They were probably wondering what all the commotion was about.

I didn't care. Their thoughts meant nothing. The only person's thoughts I wanted to hear, was the one person I couldn't. I needed to know what could possibly possess her to leave us.

"Bella, please don't go. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I didn't mean it, honest. Will you forgive me?"

"Why are you apologizing to me, Alice? You did nothing wrong. I was the one that was being a brat. You and your family have been nothing but kind to me and look at how I repay you. I'm a horrible sister. I don't deserve any of you." She stood up. She was walking away. Bella was going to leave. I had to do something.

"Bella," I started to say, but she cut me off. Bella looked at me, with a sad look in her eyes.

"Please, don't." She walked down the hall. We all heard as her door locked with a click.

I sulked on my way down the stairs, unaware of my family behind me. Staring at the blank tv screen, I sat numbly on the couch. Jumbled thoughts swirled through my mind, but I paid them no attention. Even as they begun to mentally scream my name, I didn't notice.

"Edward, please, listen," Jasper said. He touched my shoulder and the ache inside me lessened. I met his eyes. "She is miserable, lonely, angry, though I think that it is at herself, and it's almost like she is pushing herself into a state of numbness." Wonderful.

"I have to take her back to Denali. I promised her I would." Determined, I stood. The looks on the others' faces stopped me, though, "What?"

"Give her a day or two. She might come around," Carlisle said.

"Did you not just hear Jasper? She's miserable." As much as it might hurt me if she left, it was nothing compared to the pain of knowing that she was unhappy here when she could easily be happy elsewhere.

"I agree with your father. Let her deal with her emotions and maybe she'll want to stay." Wasn't anyone on my side.

"Alice?" I asked. Maybe she had caught something. I needed something, anything. If she was going to be happy, then I wouldn't interfere.

"I'm not getting anything definite." I sighed.

For two days, I sat alone in my room listening to music. I blared the music through my headphones. I couldn't bring myself to care about my family. She hadn't come out of her room and I didn't want to leave mine. When nothing changed after four days, I started to get antsy. I paced my room. How was I supposed to just sit here when she was right across the hall and as miserable as ever? I couldn't, I decided. I made a plan and I didn't care what my family thought. They would forgive me eventually. I could deal with their anger, but I would never forgive myself if I let Bella be alone in that room anymore.

The next morning, I broke down the door. Bella looked so frail and delicate, not like the strong, powerful vampire she was. I threw her over my shoulder and ran down the stairs. Someone was bound to have heard the door, but I was faster than all of them. I sat her in the passenger seat of my Volvo and took off.

We sat in a dead silence, not even the radio playing, for about an hour. Bella gazed out the window as the green trees flew by the car, only to be replaced by more trees. Finally, she looked at me. In a small voice she asked, "Where are we going?"

"Alaska," I replied, keeping my eyes focused on the road.

"Why are we going to Alaska?" she asked, her voice seeming to regain it's strength. I whipped my head around to look at her. She looked almost angry.

"I'm taking you home, like I promised." I kept my eyes on her.

"But they don't want me there," she whispered. I pulled my car over to the side of the road and parked, my eyes never leaving hers.

"Yes, they do. Tanya, Kate, Irina, everyone wants you there. They want you as much as we do," I assured her. She looked unconvinced.

"No, they don't. If they wanted me, then they wouldn't have sent me away. And I know your family doesn't want me. I'm just a nuisance to them, an obligation." I rolled my eyes, unconsciously.

"I'm the one that can read minds, remember? My entire family loves you. We just don't want you unhappy. They don't know that I kidnapped you. They do now, I suppose, but they didn't know my plan. And I've heard the things that Tanya said about you to Carlisle. She considers you a daughter. She thought you would like it here."

"You're kidnapping me?" She asked with a smile, the first real smile I had seen in days.

" Why? Am I doing a bad job of it?" I joked. And euphoria erupted in my ears, she laughed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that the kidnapper isn't supposed to tell the kidnapee, person being kidnapped, whatever they are called, where they are going. It's like an unwritten rule."

"You're not sure, you are only pretty sure?" She scoffed and then smiled.

"Stop making fun of me. I can't help that I was born in the late 20th century any more than you can help that you were born in the early 20th century. This is the way we talk." I laughed at her tone. She was adorable when she was scolding me.

"I'm very sorry, Bella. Please forgive me." Her eyes lit up, making her more lovely than ever.

"Of course, I forgive you, Kidnapper."

"So where am I taking you? Home?" I asked. I wanted her to come back to Forks. She seemed happy or atleast content, but I don't think I can take any credit for that.

"Yeah. Home." I looked at her. If she wanted to go back to her house in Alaska, then I would let her. Maybe I could come visit. Something about this girl drew me in. I hardly knew her, but I wanted nothing more than to get to know her.

"Alaska?" I clarified. Suprisingly, she shook her head.

"Washington."

I smiled, unable to hide my joy. "Whatever you want."

I turned the car around and headed back for the border. I had another hour alone with Bella before we got home. I planned on getting to know her as much as I could, because I'd probably be confined to my room for a week when we got home.

"How much trouble are you going to be in, Kidnapper?" she asked using her apparent new nickname for me. I had to admit, I liked it.

"I'll probably be grounded." Bella burst out laughing. Her laughter assaulted my senses. I felt like I was on overload. "What are you laughing at?"

"It's just funny to think about a hundred year old vampire being grounded," she said between giggles, her eyes radiant. "What will they ground you from?"

"My music. My car. My piano." Oh, how I would miss them all.

"You play the piano?" Bella asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

"Yes." I suddenly felt nervous. I have no idea why. It was just Bella and I. And we were only talking, but I couldn't escape the anxiety I felt.

"Will you play for me? I mean, if you aren't grounded from it or anything. I don't want to get you into any more trouble than you are already in." I focused on the road, too eager to look in her eyes.

"I will, if you'll help get me out of being grounded." A two-for-one deal. I give Bella what she wants and it makes her happy. Therefore, I'm happy. And I'm not grounded, therefore I'm happy. Happiness all around.

"What would I have to do?" Bella shifted in her seat. She curled one leg beneath her and turned her body where it was facing me. I tried as best as I could to keep my eyes on the road.

"Make me not sound like the bad guy. I really was only looking out for your well-being. I don't think I should be punished for that." She smirked.

"You took me from my room against my will and drove us to Canada without telling anyone where you were going. I really think you should be punished for that." She smiled wide. My jaw dropped.

"Bella!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Kidnapper!" she joked. Bella leaned against the head rest. He brown hair spread across the seat.

We sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the trip. Bella pulled out my cd collection and picked out the music. I surprised myself by allowing her to. No one touched my music, but it felt natural to let her. She actually had decent taste too. Of course, it was all my music, so I was alittle biased.

When we pulled up to the house, I rushed around to open the door for her. She smiled a small smile at me. Any smile was better than no smile, I decided. She followed me into the house where the entire family was waiting. Bella stepped forward.

"I'd like to stay, if that is okay with all of you." Esme threw her arms around Bella, while glaring at me.

"Of course, Dear. We always wanted you to stay."

"Thank you, Esme. And please go easy on Kidnapper," she said my nickname with a huge smile, "he was only looking out for my well-being. He didn't like seeing my unhappy."

My family's thoughts attacked my mind. They all love my new name. Apparently, I was going to be referred to as Kidnapper for the next century. And they were all happy Bella was back. We were all happy that Bella was back. Their thoughts kept coming wave after wave when suddenly they all stopped. I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts.

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A/N: I probably will only be able to update once this weekend for which I am very sorry. Perhaps, if I get a lot of reviews I can be guilted into staying up until an ungodly hour to write more. So review, yeah. 


	6. Control

Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine.

A/N: It is really short, but this way you atleast get alittle update. I'll try to post another chapter tonight or tomorrow.

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EPOV 

My family's thoughts attacked my mind. They all love my new name. Apparently, I was going to be referred to as Kidnapper for the next century. And they were all happy Bella was back. We were all happy that Bella was back. Their thoughts kept coming wave after wave when suddenly they all stopped. I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts.

I looked at each of my family members, trying to recover their 'voice', but it wasn't there. The complete silence in my mind was absolutely deafening. For nearly one hundred years I had lived with a buzzing in the back of my mind and suddenly it was gone. I was terrified.

"Edward? What's wrong?" Jasper asked, he must be feeling my sheer panic. My entire family's eyes locked on me. I couldn't hear them.

"I...I can't hear...what you are thinking. Any of you, I can't hear any of your thoughts!" I went into a frenzy. What was I going to do? One one hand, I was thankful that the voices were gone. But I was also scared about how they had been taken from me. I looked at each of them seperately. Nothing.

I finally met Bella's eyes. She looked as scared as I probably looked. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"What do you mean? Why are you sorry?"

"I can't control it. I should be able to control it, but I just can't. It happens at random times, usually when I'm mad or scared. It's never happened when I was happy. I'm so sorry Edward. Your ability will come back soon, I promise, I hope. Everyone else's has come back, but it usually takes an hour or two," the words raced from her mouth. She looked like she was having a panic attack. Almost unaware of what I was doing, I place my hands on either side of her face.

"Bella, breathe, relax. It's going to be okay. Just explain to me what  
happened." Her eyes met mine.

"It's my gift, my ability. I can block other vampire's gifts."

"Holy sh-"

"Emmett!" Esme exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Mom, it's just...that is so awesome. It totally makes Edward's gift look wimpy." I wanted to argue with bim, but I couldn't. Compared to Bella's gift, mine was wimpy. She took away my gift without even trying.

No one else spoke. We all just sat there and looked at Bella. While, I assumed, many of the others became afraid of her, I just wanted to kiss her even more.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Please, say that you don't hate me." I looked at her incredulously.

"Hate you? How could I hate you? Bella, you gave me the one thing I wanted most in the world. I have an hour alone in my own head." No one's else pesky thoughts. Just me and my daydreams playing out in peace.

"But, I could have turned it off forever. I could have hurt you. You like this now, but-" I kissed her, silencing her argument. I didn't care that my family was there. I couldn't hear them, it's like they weren't. When she started to kiss me back, I reacted the only way I could. I pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. She pulled away before I did, her eyes shining as they stared into mine.

"Kidnapper!" Emmett said in a voice that showed his obvious approval. I looked down in embarrassment. I had forgotten they were all there. This whole 'not hearing their thoughts' thing was hard to get used to.

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A/N: I really want to see what all of you think about this chapter. And the only way I'll know is if you'll tell me. 


	7. Thoughts

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: Here is Chapter 7. Hopefully, it's not too boring. Just so you know, I'm typing up Chapter 8 as soon as I get this posted, so that you can read that too. I feel like I haven't updated in forever. You know me and my impatience.

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"Well...uh...um," Carlisle stuttered and then cleared his throat. I looked at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, anything, but the curious gazes of the other vampires. I couldn't believe that I had kissed him. I kissed Edward. He kissed me. My mind thrilled at the very idea.

After clearing his throat two more times and sputtering a few more unintelligible phrases, Carlise formed a coherent sentence.

"How many times have you done this, Bella? Your gift, I mean." Reluctantly, I met his eyes. I would have preferred to keep looking elsewhere, but it would have been rude. I couldn't afforde to be rude to the family who had welcomed me with open arms...twice.

"Three, maybe four. I'm still not sure what happened the first time, but I think it was me," I answered truthfully.

"Have you ever intentionally used your gift?" I knew that Carlisle was only looking out for his family, which apparently included me, but it was still a difficult question to answer.

"I think so." He raised an eyebrow at my response. I looked around at the others, they looked worried. It only made me more nervous. That is, until my eyes met Edward's. His small smile gave me courage. After taking a deep breath, I answered.

"I don't mean to be dishonest or tell only half truths, I'm really not sure. This...gift is chaotic. It makes me dangerous, as you all just saw." I was dangerous, more so than other vampires.

"Bella, although I was surprised by what happened, I really an thankful for what happened." I looked at him in disbelief.

"You say that now, Edward," I said, trying to keep my emotions in check, my memories buried, "but what if this happened in the middle of a fight? You would have your guard dropped, lost focus, and had to adapt to not having your gift, all while fighting. I doubt even the mighty Edward Cullen could win against those odds." I'd seen it before. "You can't get arrogant with your gift, because someone may come along and take it away," I finished my sentence in a whisper. My heart was heavy as I thought about that day. It seemed so long ago, but it was only a few months.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked. I shook my head, my body trembling.

"I'd rather not talk about it...not yet. If that is okay?" Carlisle nodded, much to my relief. I let out a breath.

"Do you want me to help you learn to control your gift?"

"Yes," I said simply to Carlisle.

"Then, we'll start tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"

"It sounds good. Than you, Carlisle, for everything."

"Anything for you, Bella." I smiled at the sincerity in his voice. Everyne else smiled too. It was a step up from the dropped jaws and wide eyes.

"So, Kidnapper," Alice said with a smile, "what are you going to do for an hour?" Edward grinned, his topaz eyes melting me.

"I'm going to jog around the house not listening to your thoughts and then I'm going to run into the forest and just think. And I'm only going to hear my thoughts. It'll be heaven, I can already tell."

"That sounds so boring," Emmett joked with him.

"I agree, very boring," I laughed, my eyes meeting Edward's again. He hesitated.

"Well, I'm going to be alone in the woods. Do you want to come with me?" Before I could answer, he turned to look at the others. "That's not an open invitation. I may not be able to hear your thoughts, but I know you well enough how you all think. I'm only asking Bella." Edward smirked when the other's smiles turned to frowns. Well, Emmett and Alice frowned. Carlisle and Esme simply looked shocked. Rosalie pouted her plump red lips. Only Jasper kept a small, sly smile.

"I don't know," I said uneasily. Why was I so nervous to be alone with him? I had just spent two hours alone in a car with him. I wondered what was different. Then I realized, it was before I had kissed him.

"We have some things to discuss." I nodded and started to follow him out the front door, my stomach doing flips. Alice grabbed my arm and whispered very quietly.

"Tell him the truth. Trust me, you won't regret it. Oh, and, we'll talk when you get back."

"Okay," I said warily. Something about that seemed slightly ominous.

As we walked out the door, Esme yelled, "Kidapper, don't you dare leave the country again." He smirked, but nodded.

I followed Edward, just a half-step behind. We zoomed past moss covered trees. It seemed to me that we were running aimlessly, with no rhyme or reason. That is until we stopped in a clearing, a meadow. Grass swirled in the breeze. I heard the rushing waters of a nearby stream and dozens of birds singing their songs. It was beautiful.

A faint bit of sunshine came through the trees, gently illuminating Edward. His smooth marble skin glittered as if made of diamonds. I'd seen this happen before with other vampires, but none could compare to Edward.

Okay, so maybe I was a little bit infatuated with Edward, just a little bit, but so were three of my sisters. The only difference between me and them was that I had actually kissed him. But he brought me out here to talk about 'things'. Yeah, 'things'. He regretted the kiss. He was just caught up in the moment. He didn't mean anything by it. The possible excuses blew through my mind. Of course Edward Cullen didn't like me. It was ridiculous of me to think any differently. We were friends, family maybe, but nothing more. There was no way someone like him, someone god-like in beauty and sweet in spirit, could be attracted to me.

Edward turned to face me, his bronze hair dancing in the wind. His eyes were lit up and he was smiling carefully.

"We need to discuss some things," he said conversationally.

"Yes, I believe that is why I agreed to come out here," my voice sounded harsher than usual. I couldn't hide the discomfort I felt. He didn't want me, I got that, but why did he have to stand there looking amazing? He raised his perfect eyebrows.

"It's about...the kiss." I dropped my head.

"Can we just forget it ever happened?" I practically begged.

"You want to just forget it?" his voice carried a note of sadness. Did I want to just forget the kiss? If Alice wouldn't have just told me to be truthful, then I probably would have just lied.

No," I whispered, sinking to the ground. I cautiously avoided his eyes.

"Me neither, but-" Edward said.

"But?" I whined. He sat in front of me and I glanced up to his face. He was smiling.

"I think we kind of rushed it." What did he mean by that? Rushed it?

"I don't understand," I stated. He caught my face in between his hands in a way that I was growing far too accustomed to.

"I want to get to know you better. I feel like I hardly know you."

"What do you want to know?" I asked. Edward released my face, but took one of my hands in his.

"Everything." I rolled my eyes and Edward laughed. My breath caught in my throat.

"You are going to have to be a bit more specific. There is an awful lot included in everything." Edward moved from in front of me to sit beside me. He never let go of my hand.

"Just start at the beginning, I'll keep up."

"It's not a very nice story. Mine has lots of pain and death."

"Mine does too." He stroked my hand with his thumb. The sensation sent shivers through me.

"Will I ever get to hear yours?" I asked curiously. Edward flashed a grin.

"After I hear about you."

"You show me yours, I'll show you mine?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Edward threw back his head and laughed.

"Something like that, yes." He finally answered me, his laughing fit over. I simply stared at him in wonder. "Please, continue, I promise to behave."

I took a deep breath, though I didn't need it. My story was painful at every turn, but I wanted him to know. Maybe it was time that someone knew me completely.

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A/N: 37 Reviews for Chapter 6 alone. Holy Crow. That's just phenomenal. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about this one. 


	8. Stories

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of the fabulous Stephenie Meyer.

Author's Note: I finished Eclipse. No spoilers, I promise. Just: wow. This chapter deals with Bella's past and there are some fluffy parts at the end for all of you who enjoy that sort of thing. And there is alittle surprise that I bet none of you saw coming.

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EPOV 

"It's...strange the memories that you keep from your human life. I remember my parent's names, Charlie and Renee, and the vacation we all took together to San Antonio when I was ten. I even remember when I was three and my mom walked out on my dad. We came to Phoenix and I cried the entire time until my dad showed up. He decided that we were worth leaving his comfort zone. It's just weird that those are the memories I get to keep. I don't remember birthday parties or Christmas mornings or even what my favorite color was. And the memory that is the most terrifying is of my death. That one I get to keep forever." She took another deep breath, as unneccessary as it was. Her beautiful eyes finally met mine. The second she started talking was the second she looked away.

"I really don't remember the wreck so much as the bite. I could feel the blood leaving my body, but I never saw why. Then, another feeling came. It was like fire running through my veins. I screamed and thrashed and I managed to break my arm in the process. But none of that mattered. My broken body was completely restored. Death didn't come soon enough for me. Dake only got a little taste, before Adianna split into her two forms to pulled him off of me. It took four days. Four days or torture and pain. And now eleven months of new life. Some life," she muttered at the end.

I stroked her hand with my thumb. It was only the beginning of the story and I was already hurting from her pain. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for Jasper to be here and experience this. Thankfully, for both myself and Jasper, he wasn't here.

"What happened with Dake and Adianna?" The emotions in her eyes held me. She turned her head away, staring off into the forest that surrounded the meadow.

"Adianna stayed in her split forms, trading off holding me. She had a slightly stronger control of her bloodlust than Dake. Dake couldn't be near me until I died. But when I woke up, he was the one I felt closer to. I loved Dake." She loved him? Did that mean that she was in love with him? She must have heard my breathing stop, because she turned back to look at me. "Not like that. He was like my big brother. I suppose in the same way you love your siblings or maybe even Carlisle. He was the one that changed you. That's what I felt with Dake. He was funny and entertaining. He was amazing and he was Adianna's. They were so in love. And then we met a new coven." She sounded like she was in despair. This new coven must have been the start of her troubles. I squeezed her hand tenderly.

"The leader of the coven was named James. His mate was Victoria. And then there was Laurent. He was the odd man out of his coven like I was. And he wanted me. I was absolutely repulsed by him, but it didn't matter to him. He was going to get me one way or another." I didn't like hearing about this...suitor, even if she didn't want him. Even if he was vile. I felt...jealous. Strange.

"I never told you about Dake, his gift. He was a natural mediator, a peacemaker. He was talking to James about Laurent and I, Dake didn't want me to be Laurent's mate either. I was so nervous and afriad that there was going to be a fight. James kept getting angry, but Dake would talk him down. You know how Carlisle asked me how many times I had used my gift? This is the one I'm not sure about, it's also the one that changed everything. I think that I took away Dake's peacemaker nature. So when James got angry, nothing could stop him. Dake couldn't talk him down anymore, so a fight erupted. Dake lost." Her voice grew so low that I barely heard it. She sounded like she felt guilty. But I suddenly realized what she meant about being confident in your gift. She had seen it.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," I whispered. She squeezed my hand tightly.

"That's not even the bad part, not yet. James and his coven took off immediately. Adi was too broken to even move for days. When she finally got up, she swore revenge, a mate for a mate. Adi was going to kill Victoria. We followed their scent the best that we could. But I was slow and weak and it only got worse when I fed. Human blood makes me ill. Adi got tired of waiting on me, so she would punish me. She would tear me to pieces and leave while I was healing. And then I would follow her scent to wherever she went. I had nowhere else to go. And each time I would catch up with her, I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything except run as fast as I could and hope that she wouldn't kill me. One day while we were running, I was going too slow, the human blood in me made me weak, and she split into her two forms to kill me. I knew it was the end. I wanted there to be only one of her. If there was only one, then I had a chance of fighting her off. That is when her forms merged. I didn't even think, I just reacted. I kicked her as hard as I could. She flew through a tree, shocked that she couldn't change form. And I ran. I didn't know where I was going, but I ran. Tanya found me lying on the ground on night about a week after I ran." She had been through so much, just as a vampire. I released her hand and wrapped my arm around her protectively. Bella rested her head against my shoulder. It felt so natural, so right.

"I absolutely loved Tanya. And Kate and Irina. And Carmen and Eleazar. I loved them all. They taught me about hunting animals, which I am eternally thankful for. And they welcomed me. They made me family. I read every single book in Tanya's library. Irina and I watched movies together. Kate made me her Barbie doll. Then, I used my gift on Eleazar on accident. That is when she suggested that I come here. I think they were afraid of me. And why shouldn't they be, I'm dangerous." She pulled away from me then, but I tightened my arm around her.

"Bella," I said. She looked as if she were going to cry.

She stood and walked in front of me, looking at me with those heart-breaking eyes. "I'm dangerous. I am. And I don't belong, not anywhere."

I shook my head. "That's not true, Bella."

"Where do I belong then?" she asked, her voice ruffled.

I held out my arms and pulled her tightly to my chest. "Right here, with me." I felt her smile.

"Okay, Kidnapper, enough with the lines. Tell me your story."

I sighed. "I guess turnabout is fairplay."

"What does that mean?" She said with a laugh. My dead heart leapt.

"It's a bit like 'You show me yours, I'll show you mine', only less crude." She laughed again. I pulled her to the ground with me.

"It sounds so weird for you to say that. Sorry, go ahead with your story." Bella was still smiling. I couldn't help but follow suit.

I told her my story, everything about my human life that I could remember. My mother and dying. And then my changing. I told her about my rebellious years. We even talked about Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett coming to the family. Then, I explained about Alice and Jasper. She took everything in remarkably well. There were parts where she would squeeze my hand to comfort me. But the thing I liked the best was when she would laugh.

"You make me feel incredibly young. You have lived so much," she said thoughtfully.

"I've just lived longer, not neccessarily more, though," I replied. She rolled her eyes at me.

"You have two medical degrees, Edward." She laughed.

"Fine, you have me there."

"It's okay," she said taking my face inbetween her hands like I had done twice before, "I like my men experienced. Speaking of which, you didn't mention Tanya, Kate, or Irina once in your story." I looked down sheepishly. She lifted my head back up, so that my eyes were level with hers.

"What did they tell you, exactly?" I asked in embarrassment.

"That they all wanted you, but that you couldn't even be swayed into giving one of them a kiss. And about how they tried to seduce you," she mummbled at the end, but I still heard. Even though it was all true, I still didn't want Bella to know about that.

"What do you want me to tell you?" I honestly didn't know.

She looked like she was embarrassed too, which only made me wonder why we were talking about this. "Why did you turn them all down? I've lived with those girls. They are beautiful, inside and out."

"Yes, they are," I agreed and saw Bella frown, "but none of them were...what I wanted exactly. I didn't think that I needed anyone, I was fine on my own, complete on my own."

"You sound like you've changed your mind about that," she said in a small, almost hopeful voice. I smiled wide.

"I have. I found what I didn't know I was looking for. And she is beautiful and intelligent and her smile makes my unbeating heart go into spasms."

"Oh, yeah," she said in a curious voice, "Anyone that I know?" I laughed.

"I think that perhaps you do."

"And how would this girl know that she was the one you were talking about?" Bella asked with a smile.

"She'd know. I'd treat her special, only look at her, spend all my time with her. Things like that."

Bella got up and started stalking around me, like a predator does to it's prey. I simply raised an eyebrow. Bella flashed me a grin, her teeth gleaming in the subtle sunlight. Bella leaped onto me knocking me to the ground.

"Would you kiss her? That special girl?" she asked me. I nodded. "Would you let her kiss you?"

"Anytime she wanted," I whispered. Bella leaned in and brought her lips gently to mine.

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A/N: Let's see, something funny or entertaining to tell you while I subtly slip in the message about reviewing...Hmmm...Maybe...Review..No that will never work...Review...Next time I'll think of something, I'm sure of it. 


	9. Slipping

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: I feel like I haven't updated in awhile. So, here you go. I'll type up the next chapter for you too and get it posted soon. I'm hoping to type really fast and get this story finished for you all quickly.

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We ran back to the house hand in hand. Somehow, incredibly, I felt like what Edward said was true. I belonged here...with him. And I would stay here with him for as long as he wanted me. After that, I would leave. Any time with him, no matter how short, was worth everything. My soul. Eternity. Everything.

Occasionally, Edward would pull me closer in his arms and we would run almost as if we were one body instead of two. Our movements were in synch with each other. And it was effortless. I didn't have to try to mirror him, or he I. It was as if some supernatural force connected us, completely beyond our control.

We came to a graceful stop on the large porch that surrounded the entire first story. He kissed me delicately on the lips. Ever so softly, I responded, teasingly. Edward growled playfully.

His lips still on mine, he whispered, "Alice is coming. She wants to talk to you alone. She told me to 'butt out'."

"You got your power back," I said it as a statement.

"Yes, I am once again the crazy vampire who hears voices in his head." Edward grinned at me. His beautiful eyes were shining.

Alice stepped through the front door then and pulled me away from Edward. I tried to struggle, but, man, that tiny girl was strong. She pulled me up to her room where Rosalie was waiting. Suddenly, Alice's eyes went blank. She opened her door and spoke in a low, angry voice.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen! Don't you even think of listening in on Rosalie's thoughts. This is private girl stuff. Leave us alone or I swear I'll tell Bella all about the-" She didn't have to finish. Edward was suddenly in front of her, his topaz eyes wide.

"Don't! I'm sorry. I won't listen." As Alice started to close the door, Edward kept leaning so that he could see me. If I were human, I would have been blushing. I smiled slightly.

Alice sat down on her massive bed, her eyes never leaving me. Rose sat on the floor beside her. I just stood, staring at them both, hoping this would be over soon. My sisters both smiled at me. I cringed.

"Why am I here?" I asked and they just smiled even more.

"We want to hear about what happened in the woods," Alice said excitedly. I frowned.

"I'm sure you've already seen exactly what happened." Alice's lips became pouty.

"Please, Bella, just humor me. I want to hear it from your perspective." I couldn't argue with her, not when she was using that pitiful voice.

"I told him my story. He told me his. We came home. Alice dragged me up to her room. You know the rest." She rolled her eyes.

"That was the most boring story that I have ever heard. Details, Bella. The details make the story," Rosalie whined this time. I felt like I was being double teamed.

"Maybe I don't want to share the details. A girl isn't supposed to kiss and tell," I stated and my pixie-like sister's eyes lit up. I looked down, self-consciously. Alice's giggles echoed throughout the room.

"You kissed again?" Alice asked, already knowing the answer.

"More than once," I stated and Rosalie's jaw dropped in shock. Alice just started jumping up and down on her bed like we had on mine my first day here.

"Are you sure? Edward the prude kissed you?" Rosalie sounded like she was interrogating some terrorist. I was supposed to be her sister.

"You were present for the first one," I replied defensively. Alice was suddenly next to Rosalie, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down, Rose. I may not have Jasper's gift, but even I can tell that you are jealous," Alice said more sweetly than I would have thought physically possible. Rosalie's eyes grew dark.

My blonde sister flipped her hair and pranced out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I looked at Alice anxiously. She didn't act like anything had happened. Alice was the picture of ease.

"What was that about?" I mumbled. "Why does she hate me now?" Alice rolled her sparkling eyes at me. Clearly, to her, I was being absurd.

"Rosalie doesn't hate you. She's just jealous," Alice replied nonchalantly. I couldn't register how that was possible. Rosalie was gorgeous. Why on earth would she be jealous of me?

"That's crazy! Why?" Alice patted her bed. I climbed on beside her and we both lay there, staring at the ceiling. Something about Alice made feel both nervous and relaxed at the same time.

"Edward told you about how Rosalie came to the family?" I nodded. "She is jealous that he accepted you so easily into his life, his arms, when he never wanted her."

"That's ridiculous. She's perfect...and she has Emmett." I covered my face with my hands.

"Don't worry about it. She'll be fine by the time we start school." What? School?!

"Alice? What are you talking about? I can't be around people. I'll eat them." I could feel my sheer terror. If I could have, I would have been having a panic attack.

"Jasper," Alice whispered, but I knew he would hear. Jasper was in the room with us within seconds.

Then, suddenly, his face contorted. Edward flew into the room, his eyes meeting mine the moment he arrived. Edward's eyes flickered to Jasper and then to Alice before meeting mine again. I knew. I knew exactly what had happened. I did it again.

"Maybe we should start your training now," Edward said, his voice low and sympathetic.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper. I'm so so sorry. Why can't I control it? I'm supposed to be able to control it." I was shaking, but Alice's arms wrapped around me.

"Don't worry, Bella. Jasper will be fine within an hour. It's already been determined. So, please, just relax. None of us can calm you down."

"I beg to differ," Edward replied in a confident voice. He pulled my lips to his and I forgot everything else. He reluctantly pulled away. "I'm sorry that you don't want to see it Jasper, but I now have to relax her too." There was a pause. He gave Jasper a glare. "Yeah, you better apologize. As if she doesn't feel bad enough." I hid my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Bella." I sighed and threw my arms in the air. What was with these people?

"Why does everyone keep apologizing to me? It's like you don't understand. I'm the one who took away your gift. It's perfectly natural for you to be upset. In fact, yell at me. Tell me that you are angry. I'm not going to cry, I'm a big girl." That and the fact that I can't cry anymore.

"Don't be ridiculous, Bella," Jasper responded. I sighed and stalked out of the room. I hid in my room, but without a door it really couldn't be called hiding. My door hadn't been fixed yet from this morning when Edward ripped it apart to kidnap me.

Emmett bounded into the room, a smile on his face. Obviously, Rosalie hadn't spoken to him yet or else he wouldn't be talking to me in a friendly voice. He plopped down on my bed next to me.

"What's with the long face, Bella Wella?" Emmett reminded me so much of Dake, except for the huge muscles. Both basically personified the way a big brother was supposed to act, playful, but protective.

"I did something bad," I said quietly. He frowned, then looked exuberant.

"Who can we blame it on?" Emmett said in a very coniving voice.

"We can't blame it on anyone. It was my mess. Everyone knows it." I put a pillow over my face and tried to smother myself, before remembering that I couldn't.

Emmett pulled the pillow from me and put it behind his head. I glared, but he only smiled. "What did you do?"

"I took away Jasper's power." Emmett jumped off the bed. His topaz eyes stared at me in awe.

"That is freaking awesome! First, Edward and then Jasper. I'm not next on your hit list, am I? Please, Bella, don't hurt me," Emmett said in mock terror.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "There isn't a list. I can't control it. I hate this. Everyone else can use their gifts so easily," I whined again. I was really beginning to annoy myself with all my whining. It didn't do me any good, so I made a promise that I wouldn't whine anymore.

"We've had decades of practice, Bella Wella. Don't worry, you'll be taking away powers in no time."

I smiled a small smile. He knew exactly what to say to make me better. "Thanks, Emmett. That means a lot."

Suddenly, Emmett smiled a wide, wicked grin. It absolutely promised that I would be embarrassed soon. There wasn't a chance that I could make out of the room before he would grab me and drag me back. I just sat there, waiting for this sentence to be said.

"So, you and Kidnapper, huh? How's that working out?"

"Emmett, be serious, we met less than a week ago." I refused to tell him the truth. The truth that I had fallen for Edward the moment I saw him. And throughout today, from my kidnapping until I ran to my room, I had only continued to fall harder and harder. I knew exactly why all my sisters wanted him.

"But you like him. I can tell. And he kissed you, so that means that he likes you. Not to mention that you just spent two hours together...alone...in the woods. You can't honestly tell me that nothing happened." I didn't meet his gaze. And that was a mistake. "I knew it. You can't even look me in the eye and deny it."

"So, what if I like your brother? Is that really any business of hers?" I snapped. Emmett just smiled.

"Nope, but Edward is listening to you in my head, so I pretty sure that he knows that you like him." I smirked.

"If he didn't know that before my little declaration, then he isn't half as observant as he thinks he is." I kissed Emmett on the cheek and raced downstairs.

I needed to learn control. And I needed to learn it soon. Not just of my gift either. If I didn't learn control of my bloodlust, then I would be the reason the Cullens would have to move again. And I wouldn't allow that. I couldn't bring that down on my new family.

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A/N: Reviews are love, people, reviews are love. And chocolate. And magic. So I want a big pile of magical chocolate love from you all. 


	10. Learning

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are still the property of the brilliant Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: I realize that I just updated, but I'm sure none of you will mind another chapter. If you do mind, well, I'm sorry. I might even be posting another one tonight.

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We had only just begun Bella's training to learn control of her gift, but she had already made great strides. After explaining to Carlisle the situations surrounding the previous times she had used her power, he gained some insight on how her power worked. All of the situations were emotionally charged and the person she had taken the power from was the one she was thinking about at the time. It wasn't complex, but Carlisle found it fascinating.

Carlisle kept wondering if it would be possible to take away more than one vampire's ability at a time. He had Alice and I be guinea pigs, as Jasper was the previous guniea pig. After he recovered, he volunteered. Bella consciously took away his ability. Even without Jasper, I could tell that she was scared. Bella didn't want to take away my ability.

"Please, try," I begged, staring into her fearful eyes. She nodded and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, Alice was having a vision, I turned to her, seeing what she saw. It was going to work. Bella would take away both of our abilities. But then, Bella's eyes popped open.

"I can't do it," she whispered in a small voice.

"Yes, you can, Bella. Alice saw it. This is going to work." I took her hands in mine, trying my best to relax her.

Bella closed her eyes again. She stood completely still, a statue of a goddess. Five minutes. Nothing happened. Ten minutes. Nothing happened. After thirty minutes with her glorious eyes closed, Bella opened them and stared at me. She looked angry.

"I can't do this. Jasper was hard enough. It took me three hours to get him. And now you want me to take out two people? Maybe it's not possible. Did you think of that? This could all just be a huge waste." I couldn't blame her for being upset and impatient. It had taken me a year of intense focus for me to be able to sift through the voices in my head. And it had taken a decade to make them become background noise in my mind.

"Bella, this is going to work," Alice reasoned. Bella looked at Alice, still holding my hands. She groaned angrily. And then it happened.

Silence. Beautiful, blissful silence. I pulled Bella to me, hugging her tightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Alice. She nodded.

"You did it. You are amazing," I whispered in her ear. Bella's lips curved up into a smile. Leaning in, I kissed her. When we finally seperated, minutes later, my, our family was staring at us.

"Are you staring at Edward, because he keeps kissing me? Or are you staring at me, because I just disabled your entire family?" she asked with a grin.

"Both," Emmett said. "Now, if you could only take away my strength, then we'd be in some real trouble." Emmett flexed his gigantic biceps. I glanced at Carlisle. Even without my mind reading, I knew exactly what he was thinking. I was thinking it too.

Carlisle gently removed Bella from my arms. He put his hands on her shoulders. Looking more fatherly than ever, he addressed Bella.

"You have done so much in such a short amount of time. I would understand if you would like to rest, but there is something I want you to try. You don't have to do it right now, but I'd still like you to try." She frowned. Bella knew what was coming.

"You want me to try to hurt Emmett," she guessed. Carlisle frowned at her.

"Bella, you have to stop thinking about your gift as a...a hand grenade after you pulled the pin. Yes, your gift has a certain...tactical advantage, but I'm never going to ask you to use your gift against someone during a fight. Right now, we are just learning your limits, nothing more." She still looked unconvinced. I glanced at Emmett, hoping he would get the hint. Even as dense as he sometimes pretended he was, Emmett understood.

He stepped forward. "Hit me with you best shot, Bella Wella. You can't take out my gift, it's physical. I think you can only take out mental gifts. Wimpy ones, like Edward's," he taunted playfully.

Bella closed her eyes and then almost immediately popped them back open, a triumphant smile on her face. We all stared at Emmett. He didn't look any different, but he was shaking his arms.

"Did she do it? Did you do it already?" I asked. Bella walked back to me and placed herself in my arms.

"Is this how you guys feel all the time? It's like my arms weigh nothing?" Emmett was whining unhappily. Bella rolled her sparkling eyes.

"Please, Emmett. It only lasts an hour. You may not be able to juggle minivans anymore, but you can still juggle motorcycles. Maybe even Volvos." She looked at me with a grin.

"Great idea, Bella. Let's go check." And he was gone. I tried to glare at Bella, but when she started laughing I couldn't even pretend to be angry. Every single time she laughed, it lit me up inside.

"You owe me a Volvo," I whispered to her. Bella just laughed again.

"I'll get you one soon. You need your getaway car in case you want to kidnap more people."

"There is only one person I want to kidnap," I replied.

"Edward, seriously, we are all right here. I don't want to listen to you two talk like that," Jasper said in an annoyed voice. I had forgotten that they were there. When I couldn't hear them, I tended to forget.

"Sorry," I said with a grin. I wasn't that sorry.

Carlisle's cell phone rang then. He answered it without even glancing at the caller id.

"Hello." Pause.

"Would that be just you or is the entire family coming?" Another pause.

"Wonderful." More pauses.

" Yes, actually, we have made extraordinary progress." Pause.

"We will see you soon, then. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and we all looked at him curious as to who he was speaking to. I frowned at not just "knowing" by reading his mind. I gained respect for my brothers and sisters at that moment.

Carlisle smiled. "Tanya is coming to visit." Bella stiffened in my arms.

"She's not coming to take me back with her, is she?" It was easy to hear the panic in her voice. "I'm not a part of her family anymore. I'm a part of your family, right? She just can't take me away." I tightened my hold on her.

"You are a part of our family now, Dear," Esme smiled reassuringly, "And you can't be forced to go anywhere that you don't want to go." Bella relaxed slightly.

"Why don't you want to go back to Denali?" Alice asked. Bella shook her head sadly.

"Even though I spent months with them, I feel closer to you all and I haven't even known you a week. You seem more like family to me." Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, and Esme smiled. Even Rosalie, still angry at Bella for something that I didn't get to hear because it was "private girl stuff", smiled slightly. I just kissed her hair gently.

Emmett came running in. "Hey, Bella, you were right. I can still juggle with a Volvo. Also, Edward you are going to be needing a new car. Umm...sorry," he offered. I rolled my eyes. I didn't have to be a psychic to know that anytime Emmett was left alone with something, it would come back broken.

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A/N: I feel like I almost don't have to tell you to review anymore, but I will. Review. Okay, yeah, I'm done. 


	11. Growls, Love, and Cars

Disclaimer: Again, If you've read about them in Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse, then they aren't mine.

A/N: Here is another chapter for you. I added more to it this morning. Initially, it was shorter. But I loved you all too much to allow that.

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I just laid on my bed, staring out the window at the sun rising. If I could have still slept, then I would have been out of it hours ago. Learning control had exhausted me. As pleased as I was to have conscious control of my gift, it also terrified me to no end. Maybe control wasn't the spectacular thing I imagined it to be. Because now, instead of it being completely random and beyond my control, every time I took someone's gift, I was responsible. If I took Edward's gift and then we were in a fight, it would be my fault if he lost. His gift was as connected to him as his bloodlust was.

There was a light knock on my door frame. I turned my head slightly to look, a smile forming as soon as I saw who it was. He grinned in response and I swear that I heard my heart flutter.

"Good morning," Edward said as he sat on my bed beside me.

"Yes, it is...now." I bit my lip.

"We are all going to Seattle to go shopping, Alice's idea. Do you want to come?"

Part of me was screaming, "Yes. Yes. Anywhere you are is where I want to be." The other part was saying," It's too dangerous. You might kill someone." Edward must have read the indecision on my face. Gently; he was always so gentle, Edward took my hand and intertwined our fingers.

"Tanya told Carlisle that the few times you were out among humans you were perfectly fine. And do you honestly believe that I would let you do anything you would regret?" I shook my head.

"No." My voice sounded so small.

"Good," Edward smiled, "Then, it's settled. You'll need to hunt sometime this morning. Alice wants to leave by ten." I grimaced. "Do you want Alice to go hunting with you?"

I felt ridiculous asking this question. "Would you go with me?"

"Sure," Edward pulled me off the bed.

We took off running together in the forest, trees passing by us as if they were nothing. Edward stopped in a clearing and I followed suit. I closed my eyes, alternating between standing on my heels and my toes. The wind shifted and I smelled the magnificent/vile odor that was the reason for my existence. Blood, but luckily not human. The deer never stood a chance, not against the world's best predator.

Self-consciously, I wiped my mouth with my arm as Edward just stood, watching me, some unreadable emotion on his face. I carefully avoided his gaze as I sprinted back to the house. Still a distance aways, Edward put a hand on my arm. My breath caught. I stopped and stared into his troubled eyes.

"How long are we going to keep doing this?" He signalled to both of us with his right hand.

"Doing what?" I asked in a confused tone. I didn't know what he meant.

Edward groaned. He signalled between us again. "This. This kissing one minute, ignoring each other the next thing. I don't want that. Do you?"

"No, but...I don't know how to act around you. I've never...felt like this before," I answered honestly, but only after looking at the ground. His eyes were far too mesmerizing for my own good.

"Me neither," I heard him whisper.

"So, what do we do? How do we act?" Slowly, carefully, Edward took my hand.

"How about we start with this and work our way up?" I felt a smile forming on my lips.

"That sounds nice."

We took off running again, hand in hand Occasionally, we would glance at one another, much like we had on my first day in Washington. Only this time, neither of us would look away quickly. His eyes seemed to linger on me and it sent shivers through my body. When we got to the house, Edward walked me to my room. It was sweet and unexpected. He kissed me on the cheek.

"Alice is coming. She has clothes all picked out for you and she is going to, in her words, 'doll you up'. Don't even bother fighting it. She'll just put you in something that you'll hate worse," he whispered, a smile in his voice. I frowned. "Bella, please, it's her way of bringing you into the family."

"Okay, if you say so," I relented. Alice walked into my room, a smile plastered on her angelic face.

An hour later, after being poked, prodded, and beautified by the hyper tornado that is Alice Cullen, I was acceptable. Lucky for me, she had only put me in jeans and a blouse. I don't think I could have survived it she had put me in something like the black mini skirt she was wearing. It looked amazing on her, but it just wasn't something I felt comfortable wearing.

"Edward is going to love it. I know these things Bella. He is going to absolutely love it, almost as much as he loves you." I froze at that. Love? Edward? Edward Cullen, more beautiful than any Greek god, loved me? It...no...It didn't make sense. Alice's eyes got really wide. She pulled me close to her and whispered as quietly as she could in a frantic voice. "Oh my Carlisle, Bella. I thought you knew. Don't tell him I said anything. I can block Edward from my head, but you cannot tell him. Okay? I saw him saying it. I just...thought that he already did. Oh...oh...Please, Bella?"

I was still too much in shock to even react. I couldn't form sentences. The same idea, concept, kept spinning and turning in my mind. But it was impossible. Surely, not. Surely, Edward wasn't in love with me.

There was a knock on the door. My brain froze. Without even looking, I knew exactly who would be standing there. I was already in tune with him, My eyes flickered up. Edward. I looked into his topaz eyes and was shocked by how clearly I could see love there.

"Is something wrong?" he asked as I continued to stare at him. I shook my head, knowing that I was grinning like the cat who caught the canary. And what a canary it was.

"No. Nothing is wrong. Alice and I were just talking." He raised an eyebrow as he stepped further into my room.

"What were you guys talking about?" Edward asked curiously.

"Girl stuff," I replied very quickly. He turned to glare at Alice.

"Why are you blocking me, Alice?"

My quick-thinking sister responded and if I didn't know better, I would have believed her. "Fine, Edward, you got us. Bella was going to make it a surprise, but you've gone and ruined it by being so nosy. She felt bad that Emmett ruined your Volvo, I told her how much you love it, so she was going to block Emmett's power all day. She didn't know if she could do it for sure, but she wanted to try. For you. But now you've ruined it." Alice rolled her eyes and threw herself on my bed.

Edward took my hand in his. "I'm sorry that I ruined your surprise," he said sincerly. My eyes flashed over to Alice. I felt horrible lying to him. Alice just shook her head slightly, as her eyes narrowed.

We walked out to the Cullen's garage. Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett were already there. Alice skipped over to her husband, taking her place by his side.

"Carlisle and Esme are going to stay here. They thought they should catch up on some housework," Jasper informed us with a grin.

The statement sounded simple enough, but I couldn't help but think that there was something else behind it. My theory was confirmed when Emmett spoke.

"Housework. You'd think that after so many decades they could come up with a better excuse to be alone together. It's not like we all don't know what they are doing. Well, little Bella might not. How old were you when you were changed?" he asked. I heard Edward growl.

"Don't answer that," he said in his low, threatening voice, though I knew he wasn't angry with me.

"Alittle protective are we?" The huge-muscled idiot didn't seem to understand that Edward would gladly rip him to shreads. Edward growled again. As strange as it sounds, I loved his growl.

"Emmett, stop thinking whatever you are thinking about. He's already mad about his car. Do you really want to add to his fury?" I asked, but he just smiled.

"Sure, why not?" Wrong answer. I closed my eyes and quickly took away his power. I was getting better.

"Look what you made me do, Emmett," I said with a smile. Edward squeezed my hand. "Now, you don't have your super strength for an hour. And if you keep annoying us, then you aren't going to have it all day."

"Ugh. This sucks. I thought we were friends, Bella."

"We are. But you broke Eddward's Volvo, that he loves, and it's partly my fault, so this is how I'm repaying him. I wasn't going to really block you all day, but then you had to go and think bad thoughts...If only you would have taken my advice and not made him angry." I heard Alice and Jasper laughing. They didn't even try to hide it.

"I love your gift, Bella. It's so much more fun with you around. You are going to stick around, right?" Jasper asked. I couldn't help glancing at Edward. He was grinning at me.

"Yeah. I'm going to stick around."

"Good," Jasper said. I looked around the garage at the dozens of cars there.

"So, what are we taking?" I asked as I stared at the selection. There was more than three Porsches sitting contently in the garage. I was amazed by how many cars they had. It must have cost a fortune.

"I'm going to take my car," Rosalie said, strutting over to her shiny red BMW.

"Can we ride with you, Rose?" Alice asked with a grin. Quickly, she flashed a look at me.

"Sure." Rosalie got in the driver's seat and Alice climbed into the back.

"What are we going to take, then?" I asked Edward. He smiled and my breath caught. Edward had me believing that I wasn't quite as invincible as I thought I was.

"The Vanquish." Jasper and Emmett glared at us.

"No way," Jasper muttered.

"I know you are trying to impress her, but the Aston Martin? Really? You know that's not fair," Emmett mummbled like a little kid. He folded his arms across his chest and pouted. However, I caught the keyword.

"Aston Martin?" I asked nervously.

"I don't have my car anymore, so I have to drive something. And I want to drive the Aston Martin." I couldn't deny him it. If he wanted to drive the Aston Martin, he could. If he wanted to go to Seattle on tricycle, I'd gladly ride with him.

"Okay," I relented, biting my bottom lip.

Edward led me to a shiny silver car. It looked like it cost more than most people's houses. He opened the passenger side door for me. I kissed him on the lips before slipping in. There was no escaping now. We were going to Seattle.

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A/N: Review. Enough said. 


	12. Gentleman

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: This chapter is broken into two POVs. First is Alice and then Edward's comes later. I'm not sure exactly why it is like this. That's just the way I started writing it, so... This chapter was...interesting to write. I'm hoping you will like it. Bella and Edward get a bit OOC.

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Alice's POV 

We were driving back to Forks after a very productive day of shopping in Seattle. I had gotten me twelve new outfits and Bella eight. Thankfully, she didn't see me buy the blue silk dress for her upcoming date with Edward. It would be my way of making it up to Edward for slipping with the whole 'love' thing. Bella would look stunning.

And she didn't slip today, not once. Bella and Jasper were both on their best behavior. Though to be perfectly honest, it's not like Bella could have even ran. Edward was holding on to her so possesssively that it would have cut off her air supply had she been human. He must not have liked what everyone was thinking about her. Even so, Bella gave Emmett back his strength in case one of them slipped.

She was an amazing sister. Bella had learned control so quickly. Throughout the day she discovered that not only could she take away a gift from a mile away, but also that she was capable of giving it back, but only after five minutes. Her favorite target was still Emmett. Jasper said that everytime Edward tried to get her to use it on him, she would grow panicky.

Jasper and I sat in the backseat of Rosalie's BMW, my head resting against his shoulder, when it happened. My vision. I immediately grabbed my cell phone and called Edward.

"Alice?" he asked.

"Put her on the phone." I had to talk to Bella. I'd only her bits and pieces of her story, but this seemed important and, therefore, I was impatient.

"What is it?" Edward questioned. I growled quietly.

"Now," I commanded. I heard him hand the phone to her.

"Alice?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Bella, I just had a vision...about you and some visitors we will be having soon. I think you know them." I heard her breath hitch.

"Please, no," she begged. "Three of them?"

"Yeah. The leader has light brown hair and his mate has orange hair. They are with another vampire-" she cut me off.

"Laurent," she whispered and I heard Edward curse. He quickly apologized to Bella.

"How soon?" Edward asked. I assumed that he took the phone from her.

"They'll be there by the time we get home." Edward cursed again. His vocabulary was particularly colorful today.

"What do they want? Why are they here?"

"At first, they were just curious because they caught all of our scents and then they remembered Bella's scent. She has been out in the woods so much recently. There was nothing we could have done."

"But what do they want?" His voice was tense.

"They want Bella."

Edward started muttering several creative phrases underneath his breath. "They can't have her."

"I get that, Edward," I yelled. How dense did he think I was? "But what are we going to do?"

"Is Tanya at the house yet?" I caught the results of his question.

"Good idea, but no not yet. And don't even think about heading to Alaska. It's not going to work. That's where Carlisle is trying to get them to go."

"Alice," Bella whispered. She had taken the phone back from Edward. I had never seen it happen before. "I need to face them."

I heard Edward protesting angrily. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes." And she hung up the phone.

Edward's POV

"Why? Why are we going back to face vampires who you are clearly terrified of? We can easily avoid them?" I argued, keeping my eyes glued to the road.

"They already caught my scent and when they get in the house, they'll know I live there. There is no point in running from them. James is a tracker. And he's very good at what he does. I can't live my life, my existence, constantly wondering if I'm going to run into them. I just want to face them now and get it over with." Bella's bravery surprised me to know end.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I know," she replied. My head whipped around to look at her. "Alice told me this morning."

"Alice." I'd have to kill her for this.

"Don't be mad at her. If you would have just hurried up and said it..." she trailed off. Bella's face lit up as she smiled, the evil vampires we were about to face were gone from her mind.

"I love you," I said again.

"I love you, too." She leaned over to kiss my cheek. Then, her kisses trailed onto my jaw bone, traveling further down to my throat.

"Oh..Okay, Bella, you are going to have to stop that if...if you want to keep this car in one piece," I stumbled over my words. The sensations coursing through my body were staggering.

"I don't mind. What's a broken Aston Martin after I already broke your beloved Volvo?" she said her lips still on my throat.

"Speaking of which, I'm still...alittle upset..about that. I think you...are going to have to... to make it up to me somehow," I'm surprised that coherent words were able to come out. This girl would be the death of me.

"I thought that I was," she whispered, her warm breath on my jaw. I stopped the car. There was no way I was going to risk the Vanquish. If Bella wanted to kiss then we would kiss, but not while we were going 140 miles per hour.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I grabbed it quickly. Without even looking, I answered.

"What?" I asked.

"Edward?" Esme asked. "Why do you sound so out of breath?" I coughed quickly, trying to hide my embarrassment. Bella started giggling. I mouthed 'stop it', but she just kept giggling.

"No reason."

"Well, it sounds like you and Bella are having fun." Bella burst out laughing at this. Esme, you are killing me.

"Yeah, lots and lots of fun," I responded my voice tight. At any moment, this was going to get to be more than I could handle, especially when Bella started kissing me again.

"That's good. You kids are so cute together. Now, behave like a gentleman."

"I'm trying my hardest, Mom," I said, my voice cracking.

"That's good. Can you put Bella on the phone?" I smiled. Now it was time for payback. I handed Bella the phone and started kissing her.

"Yes, Esme, Alice said that they would be coming," Bella said, her voice shaking.

"We should be there soon. Yeah." I kissed her neck and she shivered. It had more of an effect on me than it did on her.

"I understand. I thought it would be best just to face them." Esme would interpret the tension in her voice as fear. I however knew it to be something different.

"Okay. Bye." Bella snapped the phone shut and dropped it into her lap. She greedily put her hands on my face and kissed me, pulling me close to her. I had no objections.

We pulled apart nearly twenty minutes later, panting. She looked away from me sheepishly. I brought her face back, so that I could stare into her beautiful eyes. I took her hand and started the car.

We drove back to the house in silence, occasionally stealing kisses. I was completely taken with Bella. There was something about her that set her apart from anyone else I had ever met. I parked the car in the garage. Hand in hand, we walked through the front door.

"Where have you two been? We've been waiting for half an hour," Esme asked as soon as we walked through the door. _You had better have a good excuse for this, Mister._

"And why is your hair messed up?" Rosalie asked with a wicked grin? _Have fun?_

"Maybe they were doing housework," Emmett said. _Maybe she did know what we were talking about in the garage. She seems fiesty. _I growled at Emmett.

Jasper shot me a look. _She gets excited everytime you growl._ What? Was he being serious? I glanced at Bella, but she kept her eyes from me.

"I swear that I'm turning off all of your gifts indefinitely," she said underneath her breath. Carlisle cleared his throat. And that's when I remembered that we had guests. Three vampires stared at Bella, their eyes blood red.

Instinctively, I stepped in front of Bella, blocking her from their view. Bella took my hand and squeezed it tightly. I heard her uneven breathing from behind me.

"Bella," the leader, James, said in a friendly tone, "It has been far too long."

"It's been seven months since you killed Dake and in my book that makes it...not nearly long enough," she replied. Emmett was right, Bella was fiesty.

"Oh, Isabella, don't be like that. We are practically family," Victoria responded, her voice casual.

"And how exactly do you reckon that? You killed Dake. You destroyed Adi. That's not family. This," she looked around at us, "is family." Bella was so courageous. In her situation, I don't know that I would have been able to remain so calm, so collected.

"Bella, we would like to make you an official member of our family, like Dake and Adi would have wanted," James said, his voice still friendly. It was making me ill. Especially since he was thinking about how much he wanted to get out of this house.

"Dake never wanted me to be part of your family," she said confidently. I squeezed her hand.

"Maybe not, but Adi, before she died, expressed interest in making you a part of our family."

"No," Bella said and she sounded confident in her answer. The hand that wasn't holding Bella's balled up into a fist.

"Laurent wants you to be his mate. And that is a wonderful request. I don't see how you are in any position to decline," James said with a slight edge. He was thinking that Laurent wouldn't shut up about it and that they were going to get her one way or another.

Bella didn't respond, so I did. "I'm sorry, but Bella cannot accept."

James didn't like his authority challenged. He walked straight up to me and stared, his ruby eyes were supposed to be intimidating. "Oh, and why not?"

"She's taken. And I'm not sharing."

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A/N: So, reviewing would be lovely. I really want to hear what people think of this chapter. 


	13. Sharing

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter may be a little different than you are expecting. It's short. It is in Bella's POV. And the way they deal with James, Victoria, and Laurent is...well, it's not going to be what you are expecting. And you may very well hate it, but this outcome seems possible in my little world that I've formed.

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I froze, unable to say anything. There wasn't any way to get out of this, none that I knew of. I had seen James when he was determined. For goodness sakes, he found me after all this time. 

"I'm sorry, but Bella cannot accept," Edward replied. I squeezed his hand tightly.

I knew that James wouldn't take this well. He was used to being in power, in control. You didn't defy or go against James. Not if you wanted to live. He walked forward, so that he was standing in front of Edward. "Oh, and why not?"

"She's taken. And I'm not sharing," Edward said darkly, his voice unintentionally seductive. My breath caught. How I could be thinking such impure thoughts at a time like this was beyond me.

James shifted his body, so that he could look at me. Edward mirrored him, once again blocking me from the tracker's ruby eyes. Then, responding to something James was thinking, Edward growled. It wasn't the playful growl he used with me or the irritated growl he used with Emmett. No, this one was frightening.

"Edward," Carlisle said in a warning tone.

"He can't have her. I'm not letting him take her," Edward responded, his voice strained.

I saw a flash of movement and looked over to see Alice falling and Jasper catching her. She saw something. There was an emotion deep in Alice's eyes. It was as frightening as Edward's growl. My sister came and stood beside Edward, her eyes never leaving James and the hatred in them never lessening.

"You know me." Alice's voice was dark. She wasn't like my bubbly hyperactive sister. For once, she was acting like the deadly predator that she was. "You know who I am and how I was changed. As soon as you saw me, you remembered. And you've just decided that if you can't have Bella, then you'll take me." Alice paused, the silence as heavy as the tension. "I've already seen it. I'd give up if I were you, unless you all want to die. As you can clearly see, you are outnumbered. And we have more coming."

James smiled an evil grin at Alice. "You're bluffing."

Alice's answering smile was brilliant and shocking. "About which part, the visions? No, you know that I have them, so that's not it. So, about you dying? I wouldn't lie about that. It would be cruel. You must mean about the backup." There was a knock on the door. All of our eyes, ruby and topaz, turned to look as five vampires came through the front door. Tanya. Kate. Irina. Carmen. Eleazar. My three families all together. Now if Adi and Dake would come back from the unknown and Charlie and Renee from Phoenix, what a party it would be.

"Oh, right. I wasn't bluffing about that either," Alice said victoriously.

"Fine." James turned and signalled for Victoria and Laurent to leave.

"Actually," Laurent said, "I'd like to learn more about your lifestyle. It is fascinating to me." Carlisle approached Laurent.

"You can stay and listen or you can go with them. It is your choice."

As much as I despised Laurent, I couldn't help but hope that he would choose to stay and learn about the way we lived. Laurent sat on the couch, as James shot him a hateful glance. He and Victoria sauntered out the door.

"We missed the party," Tanya said unhappily.

"No. You guys came in at the perfect time," Alice replied, giving her a hug. I walked to Tanya slowly. She threw her arms around me.

"Bella! I can't believe that it has only been a week. It feels like you've been gone forever. We all miss you so much."

"I've missed you too. But the Cullens have all been wonderful, like family." Tanya released her arms from me and took my hands gently.

"I knew that you would like it here. And Carlisle says that you have already gained much control over your gift." I nodded, a smile on my lips. "And everyone has been nice to you."

"Much more than I deserve," I responded. I saw Alice roll her topaz eyes.

"She doesn't seem to understand that that is what family does for each other."

"Hey! I'm starting to. It's just taken me some time to get used to it," I defended myself.

Tanya went around hugging everyone. I couldn't help but feel jealous when the beautiful blonde hugged Edward. Jasper shot me a look, but I ignored him. Then, Edward turned to look at me. Why couldn't Jasper block that from Edward? Was it really neccessary to tell him?

Immediately, my personal Greek god came to stand by me. He took my hand, as his breath-taking eyes assaulted mine. Edward leaned in close, so close that noone else would hear, and whispered, "Alittle jealous?"

Embarrassed, I tried to look away. With his free hand, not caring who was watching, Edward brought my face back, so that I was looking directly at him. He smiled softly.

"Yes," I whispered. His smile grew wider.

"You have nothing to worry about. I'm yours." It was my turn to smile. I brought my lips close to his ear, my breathing slightly erratic.

"Good, because I'm not sharing." I leaned away. Edward's eyebrows shot up. He smirked at me. Someone cleared their throat.

We turned to look. Everyone else's eyes were on us. The reactions ranged from smiling to smirking to frowning to gaping.

"We still need to talk to Laurent about our lifestyle. If you want to be a part of that, then you can stay down here. If not, then I guess you can go elsewhere," Carlise said. Edward looked at me, wondering what I wanted to do.

As brave, or stupid, as I had been to face James, I really didn't feel like spending any quality time with Laurent. I pulled on Edward's hand, leading him up the stairs.

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A/N: Tell me if you hate it. 


	14. Beds

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer still owns Edward and the rest of the characters mentioned in this chapter.

A/N: I had this all ready to post last night and then I couldn't login. But it's here now. Enjoy.

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Bella led me up the stairs. I followed her like a good little slave boy. She went to her room and laid on her bed. Looking straight into my eyes, she patted the bed beside her. Her delicate lips turned into a smile. How could I resist such an invitation? I laid down beside her, pulling her close in my arms.

Being away from the distraction of losing her brought a question to my mind. I cleared my throat, embarrassed at what I was about to ask. Bella turned around in my arms, so that she was facing me. She looked nervously at me.

"Umm...Something Jasper said earlier...He said...Not really said so much as thought..." I sounded like an idiot. I couldn't even form a sentence. There was no reasonable explanation that explained why the angel in my arms loved me.

"What are you trying to say, Edward?"

I took a deep breath and looked away, hoping that it would make it easier on myself. "He said that you get excited everytime I growl," I said quietly, not quite a whisper, but low enough that someone would have to strain to hear it.

"And?" Bella asked. I looked back, her golden topaz eyes held my gaze.

"It's true?" I asked. She bit her lip and nodded. "Why?"

Bella squirmed in my arms, twisting herself away from me. Now, she was clear across the bed. All I could see was her beautiful brown curls cascading down her back. On impulse, I reached around and twirled a curl between my fingers. She turned back around.

"It's embarrassing," she said. "It has to be something about the predator in me. It's almost animalistic."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but her eyes begged me not to push it. I was too curious to just let this drop. Bella sighed.

"I'm not sure. It's like when I hear it...I know that you are able to protect me, take care of me. Even as strong as I am, I still like knowing that I have a protector. I know that when you are around that you aren't going to let anything happen to me. Like downstairs, you would have risked your life fighting James, just so that he wouldn't take me."

"But...excited?" She laughed in embarrassment.

"It's part of it. I wasn't just saying that you could take care of me by fighting. I know for a fact you can be gentle," she whispered at the end. My breath came out in spurts.

I cleared my throat and looked around the room. There was a table. A dresser. A beautiful vampire on the bed next to me. A lamp.

"I answered your question. Now I have one of my own." Bella paused. "This morning when we went hunting, why were you looking at me like that?" I was hoping that she hadn't noticed that. Then again, Bella was very observant. I shouldn't have doubted that she had seen me looking at her.

It was my turn to be embarrassed. I had always had so much self-control, but she had taken it from me easily. I was practically drooling over her this morning. The way she drank from that deer. It made me alittle...hot. "I was excited," I mumbled.

"Excited?" She echoed cluelessly. Then, suddenly, she understood. "Oh."

"What a couple we make," I said to noone.

"Seriously, you get excited when I feed," Bella stated.

"And you get excited when I growl."

"I should probably go hunting. I'm feeling alittle thirsty," she said with a wide grin on her face.

"Don't tempt me, woman," I rolled on my stomach. Gently, I grabbed Bella's hands and pinned them above her head.

"Oh, how cute," Emmmett said from the doorway. I groaned loudly. "Look, Rose. Look how cute they are." Rosalie grinned.

Rose sat on the edge of the bed. Why could I never get any alone time with Bella? I'd have to kidnap her again just so that we could be together for more than five minutes. "Scoot over," my sister commanded.

"Um...no," I responded, but Bella was already scooting closer to me.

"Come on, Edward," she said with a playful smirk, "Do you seriously have a problem with being in bed with two girls?"

My sweet beautiful angel. How could that come out of her mouth? "I don't have a problem with it. It's the fantasy scenarios that Emmett is playing out in his head that are bothering me." Rosalie leaned up and whacked Emmett over the head. Then, she pulled him onto the bed with her.

I laid on the far end of the bed. Bella was right next to me, too close and far far too tempting. Rosalie and Emmmett were curled up on the other side of the bed.

"Aren't you glad she brought you into her room, Edward, instead of going to yours. This would be pretty impossible." Emmett grinned widely at his statement.

"What does he mean?" Bella asked. Before I could respond, Rosalie interrupted.

"Haven't you ever been in Edward's room?" Bella shook her head. "Really?" Rosalie sounded shocked. My sister looked at me and smirked, her eyes teasing.

"Why couldn't we do this in Edward's room?" Bella asked.

"Why don't you ask Edward that?" Emmett said. I wanted to strangle him. His thoughts were just milliseconds faster than his words.

"Edward?" Bella moved in my arms, bringing her face to look at me.

"I don't have a bed in my room," I answered simply. Bella sat up, curiosity clear on her face.

"Why not?" she asked.

I looked at my brother. _Tell her Edward. Tell her exactly why you don't have a bed._ I growled, then glanced at Bella. She was smirking.

"I don't have any need for a bed. I don't sleep."

"Well, no duh, Sherlock. We're vampires, none of us sleep. But all of your siblings have beds. Why don't you?" Bella asked again.

Emmett's thoughts yelled in my mind. _She's going to make you come out and say it. And you might as well. It's nothing to be ashamed of Eddy._

"My siblings use their beds for...other reasons." I mentally begged that she wouldn't push it any further.

"I still don't get it." Rosalie and Emmett laughed out loud. I could keep hinting at it and hoping that Bella would understand, which she hadn't so far, or I could just come out and say it.

"They all have sex on their beds and since I'm not having sex with anyone I don't need a bed." There. Quick and painless.

Bella bit her lip and looked down. "Oh," she said in embarrassment. Rosalie and Emmett started laughing again.

"Get out," I told them.

"No way. This is fun." Emmett grinned. I knew that I would have to resort to blackmail to get rid of them.

"Right now, Emmett, or I'm telling Rosalie what you were really thinking about when you saw Bella and I on the bed." Emmett jumped up instantly. He had already learned that I made good on my threats. He grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her out into the hallway.

"Emmett Cullen! What were you thinking about and am I going to have to kill you because of it?" I heard Rosalie ask. Emmett's response never came.

I took Bella's face in my hands, stroking her cheek lightly. "I love you so much," I whispered. She smiled.

"I love you too." I smiled at her and I heard her breath catch. Bringing my face slowly, teasingly, to hers, I kissed Bella's perfect lips.

We laid there together for a few minutes, kissing occasionally. I held her protectively in my arms. Even if she didn't want Laurent, he wanted her. And he was in our home. By the thoughts of everyone downstairs, he would be staying awhile too.

"What are you thinking about so intently?" Bella smiled at me.

"Nothing," I replied.

Her lips formed a frown. "No, tell me, Edward."

"Laurent," I responded truthfully as Bella stiffened beside me.

She stayed silent for several minutes. "How are things going downstairs?"

"He has decided that he wants to attempt to live like us." Bella sat up, so I did the same. She walked out into the hallway with me trailing her.

"I need to be downstairs." I nodded, knowing that I couldn't talk her out of it.

As we walked downstairs, I wrapped my arm around her, so there wouldn't be any doubt. Not to Laurent. Not to anyone downstairs. She was mine. Bella looked up and smiled at me, guessing what I was thinking. She mouthed 'I love you' and I did the same.

Every head turned our way as we entered the living room. For the most part, I put their thoughts on as background noise. They contained nothing I wanted to hear. Once again, like every other second of my existence since meeting her, I wished that I could hear Bella's thoughts. She was the only enigma, the only mystery.

"I thought that I should come and see that Laurent has decided," Bella said cooly.

"He has decided to stay," Carlisle responded.

"Here?" I asked. "We don't have another empty room."

"Actually," Tanya said with apprehension, "You have an empty room. Bella is going to come back to Denali with us." Bella looked at me. I clenched my hands briefly into a fist and then relaxed them.

"You're wrong about that. If Bella goes back to Alaska, then we are going to have two empty rooms."

"I don't understand," Tanya said.

"If she is leaving, then so am I."

"Let's not be hasty," Carlisle said.

"No, Edward," Esme echoed.

"Why?" Irina asked.

"Don't you all understand? It's not some silly teenage crush. I love her." I turned Bella, so that I was looking into her eyes. "I love you and I'm going wherever you go."

"I love you," she whispered, "but I can't take you away from your family. You've lived with them for decades."

"Without you, life isn't worth living."

"Edward..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes full of sorrow.

Alice cleared her throat. We looked over at her. She stood up in a commanding manner.

"I don't know why none of you have talked to me about this. I'm the one who sees the future and we're talking about the future. Anyways, Bella's not going to Alaska. That's not a personal request, that's a fact. If you try to take her, Edward will follow and they'll run away. If you try to keep Edward from following her, then they'll run away. Do you all honestly want to lose them both?" She paused. Silence. "I didn't think so. The only way to keep them as part of our lives is to keep them here. Tanya, you have an empty room in Denali. Take Laurent there. He will thrive." And with that, she sat down.

"Okay, then. I guess you are going to Alaka, Laurent," Carlisle stated. Alice flashed a grin. She was way too confident.

Laurent nodded. He started talking to Kate as everyone else stood. Tanya took Bella away as Alice pulled me in a different direction.

"I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of saving your butt." I frowned at her. "Just kidding. I love helping out my favorite little brother."

"Is that all you want, Alice? To gloat?" She rolled her eyes.

"No. I wanted to tell you that I'm glad that you are staying and that you and Bella are so cute together. Also, I'd like to apologize for telling Bella that you loved her. It wasn't my place. But, "she paused dramatically, "I got Bella a dress for your date."

"What date?"

"The one you want to ask her on. I've taken the liberty of kicking everyone out of the house tomorrow night. You can thank me later." I threw my arms around Alice. Sometimes, I absolutely loved her.

"You are wonderful. I love you."

"I know."

"So, a dress?" I asked, curious. If she mentioned it, then I was sure this dress would be memorable.

"Blue silk," Alice said simply and I could envision it. The contrast between the color of the dress and the paleness of Bella's skin.

"Edward. I really don't want you having those kinds of feelings while my wife is around." Jasper came and took his place next to Alice.

"What is he feeling?" Alice asked, though from the tone of her voice I could tell that she already knew.

"Lust. And a lot of it. It's almost annoying...I take that back. It is so annoying the tension between you two. It is the worst when you are in the same room, even if you are on opposite sides like you are now."

"I'm sorry my feelings are so annoying to you. You can just imagine what your thoughts of Alice do to me." Jasper smiled apologetically.

I could feel, sense, Bella walking towards me, even though my back was turned to her. Maybe Jasper was right. Maybe there was something that connected us. It wasn't something you could see or hear, but it was real. And it was part of us.

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A/N: It's really hard trying to be funny this early in the morning, so I'm going to spare you all and just tell you to review. 


	15. Silk

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: First off, I'm so so sorry. I fully give you all leave to come and hunt me down with the pitchforks and fire that you warned me with. I went away to college and this is my first chance to actually write on my own computer. Everything has been hectic and I really didn't want to just leave you an author's note. I'll make you all a promise. I will have this story finished before I go back to school. This chapter is short, but it needed to be written, so that I can get on to the more intersting things, like the date.

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Tanya took me by the arm and led me across the room. She backed me into a corner. I looked up into her topaz eyes, trying my hardest to read the emotion contained there.

"I thought I should be the first one to give you praise for capturing the most elusive of prey," she whispered to me.

"What do you mean?" I didn't understand at all what she was talking about. Prey? What prey?

"You are the only girl to ever catch Edward Cullen. And it sounds like you got him good." Tanya sounded almost proud of me, like this was a monumental occasion.

"I love him," I said simply, stealing a glance from around Tanya.

"And he loves you," she smiled. "I wish you two all the best. If he ever hurts you, I will personally kick his cute little vampire butt."

"Tanya!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide. She did not just say that. "If anyone here is going to be talking about Edward's butt, it's going to be me. Okay? Good. Now I really must be getting back to my love."

I slipped out of the corner and started walking back toward him. Even with his back turned to me, I could tell that Edward knew I was coming. He shifted his body, so that he was standing up straighter.

Around him, I was always in a teasing mood. I stood on my toptoes and kissed the back of his neck. Edward swirled around and captured my lips with his, before I had a millisecond to react.

I could feel the stares of my family, families, on us, but I really didn't care. I was kissing the boy, no, the man that I loved. Stares, whistles, and scoffs meant nothing. Edward took my hand and led me outside to the porch. The moon hung heavily in the summer sky.

"I...I would like to ask...you if you would...like to..." Edward struggled for words. It was adorable when he was like that, so human. "Go on a date...with me. It's not really so much of a...date as it is an...occasion. I don't know. Maybe this is a bad idea." He hung his head in shame. With my free hand I traced his pale face, it was even more ghostly in the moonlight.

"It's not a bad idea. It sounds wonderful. I would love to go on a date with you," I reassured him.

"It wouldn't be so much a going out thing as it would a staying in thing. Oh my. I sound like a idiot." Edward placed a hand in front of his face. This was no good. How was I supposed to gape if I couldn't see him? Tenderly, I removed his hand and placed it on my face.

"Anywhere with you sounds amazing."

"Alice managed to kick everyone out, so it will be just you and me. Are you okay with that?" He looked nervous.

"When did you get so self-loathing? What happened to the confident Edward Cullen? Of course, I want to be with you, only you."

"The confident Edward Cullen met a goddess who leaves his speechless. And for some reason beyond his comprehension, she wants to be with him." He pulled me close in his perfect arms.

I frowned, jokingly. "I don't know if I like all this business about a goddess. I vaguely recall telling Edward Cullen that I wasn't going to share. He may need to be punished for disobeying." He laughed.

"Silly, Bella," he whispered into my ear, "You are my goddess and you are going to look phenomenal in blue silk."

"What?" I asked curiously.

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A/N: Again, pitchforks and fire welcome. Review, please, even if you are mad that I took so long. 


	16. Date

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are still the property of the lovely Stephenie Meyer. And I don't own Tenn People either.

A/N: Next Chapter! Woot woot! I'm excited about it. It's the first half of the date. Yes, the date. This half is in Bella's POV, but I'm seriously considereing putting the next half in Edward's POV.

There are still a couple more chapters coming, so don't get too antsy. I'm not sure about a sequel yet. I'll just have to see what the response is.

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"Just hold still for one more second, Bella! I'm almost done." I ceased my wiggling and sat as straight as a statue. Hopefully Alice's torture would be over soon. I really did appreciate her. She not only kicked everyone out of the house so that Edward and I could have a little alone time, but she had also had the uncanny ability to make me look beautiful. I just wished that it wouldn't take so long. Two hours. I had been sitting in the same spot for two hours and all theTeen Peoples in the world couldn't keep me from getting bored. 

"There!" Alice exclaimed in triumph. Carefully, I stood and walked over to the full length mirror. Alice pulled me away. "You can't look until you have the dress on."

"Fine," I relented with a sigh.

Alice pulled off the dress cover, so that I could see my attire for the first time. All I knew about this dress was that it was blue silk, Edward had told me that much. Alice held up the dress and I gasped.

"Put it on," she ordered. I slipped into the dress. It fit perfectly. Of course it fit perfectly, Alice picked it out.

I walked toward the mirror again. My jaw fell open. I looked amazing. The saphire strapless dress fell to just below my knee and the heels Alice put me in only helped.

From behind me, Alice came up and whispered, "Edward is going to die...again when he sees you. Good luck, little sister, but you aren't going to need it." I swirled around to face her. She was smirking.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, dear little one, that Edward is completely in love with you."

I rolled my eyes. I was the little one? "I love him too."

"I know you do," Alice said simply, but I sensed she was saying something else, "I know you do."

"Alice?" I questioned. She simply smiled.

"I have to go, Bella. My husband is taking me out on a date and I hate to keep him waiting. But, have fun and...never mind. Just have fun."

I followed her across the room. "What were you going to tell me, Alice? Alice? I need to know."

"No, you don't. You'll find out soon enough. Wait five minutes before going down. The house will be clear and Edward will start to get antsy." Alice kissed me on the cheek and walked out. The door closed with a sense of finality. This was it.

I sat on my bed as the events of the past day played in my mind. After I agreed to go on a date with Edward, he took me up to his room, while the others stayed downstairs talking. He refused to let me out of his arms, so we just laid on his couch and stared at the night sky through the window. Occasionally, he would whisper that he loved me. It was perfect. This morning was awkward though. I went downstairs to say goodbye to Tanya and the others and Laurent hugged me. Edward growled menacingly and Jasper had to calm him down.

Then, this afternoon, Emmett came into my room all serious and tried to give me a sex talk. I had to threaten taking away his strength for a month before he would leave. It was by far the weirdest thing that had ever happened to me. I mean, it was Emmett!

I glanced at the atomic clock above my door. Five minutes. Taking a deep breath, I stood and walked toward the door. Anxiously, I turned the knob and walked down the long hallway and down the first flight of stairs. It took all the strength I had to walk down the last flight of stairs, because I saw who was waiting for me at the bottom.

He was dressed in a black suit, his tie matched my dress. His topaz eyes met mine and I felt my lips curve up into a smile. As his eyes swooped downward, I saw them bug out. He was grinning wildly and I couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to run into his arms, but I walked slowly, torturously slow. I half expected Edward to run up the stairs and drag me down, but he waited impatiently for me.

I stood on the last step, so that I could be closer to eye level with Edward. He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.

"You look amazing," he said his lips still on mine. "Beautiful, phenomenal, fantastic, lovely, gorgeous," he continued whispering of my beauty. I pulled him closer, silencing him. It was one of the few ways I could.

"What's on the agenda for tonight?" I asked. Edward took my hand and led me into the living room.

"I promised that I would do something if you got me out of being grounded. And you should know that I always keep my promises." Edward led me up to the platform and sat me on his piano bench. He took his place by my side.

"You're going to play for me?" I asked excitedly. Edward was going to play for me.

"You inspired this one," he whispered, before his fingers swept across the piano. I sat in complete awe. It felt as if my soul was awakening and inflating. Then, when it couldn't take anymore, when I felt as if I would literally die from an overload of beauty, the song ended. I was speechless. Words couldn't explain how much I loved it. So, I settled for kissing him.

My lips still on his, I whispered, "Spectacular, amazing, marvelous, breath-taking, wonderful."

"I'm glad you liked it," he whispered back.

"I was talking about you," I replied.

"So you didn't like it?" I shook my head.

"I loved it." He smiled.

"I love you." The words sent my dead heart into a flutter.

"I love you too."

We sat there for a moment, lost in each other's eyes. I could see the love in his eyes. I could also see another emotion mixed it. My breath sputtered. Lust. It was so powerful that I had to look away.

"What now?" I asked, when I was finally sure that my voice would remain steady if I spoke.

"Now," Edward said dramatically, "we dance."

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A/N: You all have done a wonderful job of reviewing. It motivates me so much more, because of your kind/funny/interesting words. Even criticism is helpful. 


	17. Dance

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: I put a picture of Bella's dress on my profile, if you are one of those visual people who like pictures. Also, this chapter gets a bit...involved. That's not really the right word, but whatever. It's not enough to change the rating or anything, but just be warned about what's coming.

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"Now, we dance." 

I reached for the small stereo remote and turned on the sound system. It wasn't as nice as mine, but it would do for what I had in mind. The slow, melodic music danced through the air. I pulled Bella in my arms and started to twirl her. She threw back her head and laughed, her whole face lighting up.

"Having fun?" I asked, unable to hide my smile. When Bella was happy, I couldn't even pretend to frown.

"Yes," she replied between giggles.

Then, the music changed. It went to another dance that I knew very well. The tango. I raised an eyebrow at her and Bella just laughed again. I was beyond pleased that she was enjoying herself.We danced for hours, doing all different kinds of dances. The mambo. The foxtrot.We did all the partner dances that I had ever learned. I knew what music was coming next. And despite being an evil monster capable of slaughtering an entire city, I was nervous. I wasn't sure how Bella would react to the next song.

I pulled back, so that I could clearly see her face. The music came on, the bass loud. Bella smiled slightly.

"You want to dance with me to this?" she asked in an amused sort of way. I nodded. "You do know how people dance to this sort of music?" I nodded again and her eyes lit up.

In a small voice, I admitted my shame, "I've always wanted to dance to this sort of music, but I never had anyone to dance with."

"Everyone is dancing with everyone," she stated.

"That may be true when you are human, but a vampire can't just get in the middle of a group of humans. That would be way too tempting. Their hearts would be racing." Bella started to speak, but I stopped her. "And before you get any crazy ideas about dancing with vampires, that means that I would have to admit this to my family. You are the only one who needs to know."

"Okay," she said dragging it out alittle. "Do you get how to dance to this?"

"I get the general idea, yes." She smiled wide.

"Do you want me to lead?" She sounded so seductive as she said that. It took me a moment to respond.

"Sure."

Bella wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing our bodies close. I could feel her touching nearly every part of me. She began to move her hips in rhythm to the music and I followed her lead. Everything was going pleasantly, I was thoroughly enjoying the experience when Bella moved away. She turned around, and moved close so that our bodies were touching once again. Bella grabbed my hands and placed them on her hips as she ground into mine. I was alittle surprised, to say the least. She moved her hips again, excitement ran through my body.

Unable to stand it anymore, I turned Bella around to face me, maybe alittle roughly. I pushed my lips on hers, frantically, desperately. I needed her. She responded by pushing me into a wall and deepening the kiss. I pushed her back and we moved across the room. With the hand still on Bella's hips, I ran down to her knee and lifted her up. Knowing what I wanted, she wrapped her legs around my waist.

I raced upstairs, never breaking the kiss. Somehow, without me realizing it, Bella had taken off my tie and was halfway done with the buttons on my shirt. I let her finish the last one and slip the shirt off me before placing her on her bed. Slowly, I undid the silk ribbon the held her shoes on her feet and tossed them unceremoniously to the floor.

I laid on the bed and resumed kissing my angel. Always the predator, she climbed on top of me. She kissed my cheek bones, my jaw, and down my neck. I took the opportunity to unzip her dress. When my hands touched her bare spine, she gasped. I looked into her eyes and saw anxiety.

"If you aren't ready, then I'm more than willing to wait," I whispered.

"Your body says otherwise," she replied, sadness in her voice.

"I can control myself. I'm not an animal." Bella glanced away. I removed my hands from her back and used them to move her face, so that she was looking at me again.

"It's just...I'm a...I've never...I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not very experienced," she whispered like it was the most awful of sins. I laughed lightly and she looked embarrassed.

"Don't be embarrassed, my love. I'm not experienced either." Her jaw fell open.

"You? Not experienced? Huh."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously.

"I mean, I just assumed that someone as...amazing as you would have...by now. You've been a vampire nearly a hundred years and you never...not even when you were human?" I shook my head no. "Huh," she said again.

Bella's topaz eyes looked directly in mine. She leaned down and kissed my lips, her hair forming a canopy around our faces.

"Don't worry, love," she whispered to me, "I'll be gentle." I raised my eyebrows and she laughed slightly. I flipped her over. That night I made her mine...

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A/N: Okay, wonderful people, keep up the reviews. 


	18. They're Here

Disclaimer: All recognizable sharacters are still the property of Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: Another chapter. Here's the morning after.

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Bella looked at me, a smile on her lips. I'd seen that look far too many times last night. I swear, that girl would be the death of me. 

"I'm tired," I begged.

She decided to play dirty. The tips of her fingertips trailed lightly down my arms. She pressed her body against me in a way that was addicting. Last night had been heavenly. Again and again. And again.

"Come on, Edward," she whispered. Bella kissed me lightly. It took everything in me to resist.

"Let me go hunt. I need to regain my strength." She giggled. I gave her a stern look and she bit her lip.

"I'm sorry, Love. Was I not gentle enough?" I rolled my eyes.

"Do you want to come hunt with me? The others won't be back until about noon that gives us about six hours. We can have a lot of fun in six hours."

"What are we waiting for, then? Get up, lover boy. We have to get you back your strength."

Bella stood up and began looking for her clothes. She gave up and went to her closet. I just watched her, she was so beautiful. Bella's hair looked positively wild and her eyes were still lit up. She pulled on jeans and a t-shirt before returning to the bed.

"I thought that I said to get up."

"Yes, ma'am." I got out of the bed and walked down the hall to my room to get clothes. Bella followed me. She smacked my butt. I spun around to face her. Bella looked at me innocently. "What was that for?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," she said and I almost believed her.

I just turned back around and went back to get me clothes. "Sure."

Then, she smacked my butt again. I turned and stared at the girl, my jaw dropped. She giggled at my expression.

"You do have a cute butt."

I finished getting dressed and took her hand. We raced downstairs and into the forest. Instinct taking over, we hunted. Bella was finished before me. I decided that I probably should stock up. I hadn't realized that Bella was so fiesty.

We ran back to the house. I felt re-energized. As soon as the front door was closed, I pulled her into my arms. She brought her lips to mine. I parted her lips. Then, I heard someone clear their throat.

I groaned loudly and turned to look. My entire family was staring at us. They all looked amused.

"I thought you weren't going to be back until noon," I stated, exasperation evident in my voice. I was really hoping to be with Bella again before they got home.

"So you aren't happy to see us?" Carlisle asked with a smile on his face.

I started to answer, but Bella cut me off. "No, not really. Could you maybe come back later? Edward and I were kind of hoping to..." she trailed off suggestively.

Emmett and Jasper started laughing.

"Sorry, guys, no can do. Alice had a vision of James and Victoria coming back to take Bella, so we came straight home," Carlisle informed us.

"Can we just kill them already?" I asked him. Emmett yelled in agreement.

"If they attack, then we can kill them."

"Awesome."

Alice's thoughts came into my mind. _I'm going to take Bella for awhile, if you don't mind. _I shook my head. I most certainly did mind. _Too bad. I think Bella needs some girl time. That means no listening in. Plus, your brothers want to talk to you._

I sighed and finally nodded. Reluctantly, I let go off Bella. She looked up at me curiously.

"Alice wants to spend some time with you. She missed you or something. I'm not really sure." Bella laughed.

"I'll be back in your arms as fast as possible." She kissed me on the cheek and grabbed Alice's hand. They ran up to Alice's room. I wanted to listen, but instead I heard my brothers' thoughts.

"Oh my Carlisle," I groaned and laid down on the couch.

Everyone else had cleared the room. Only us three remained.

"So..." Emmett trailed off.

"So what?" I asked.

"How was it?"

"How was what?" I pretended I didn't know what they were talking about.

"Don't even play dumb. We can tell," Jasper informed me. Apparently, not being a virgin anymore made me look physically different.

"What do you want to know?" They grinned at me.

"You guys slept together, right?" Emmett asked.

"Well, technically, we can't sleep. We're vampires."

Emmett punched me in the arm. "Shut up, Edward. You know what I mean."

"Yes, we slept together," I mummbled to my feet, knowing they would clearly hear every word.

"I'm so proud. I thought it would never happen, little brother," Emmett replied. Apparently, Jasper was content with staying quiet.

"Thanks. I guess."

"So, is Bella as fiesty as I thought?"

"Okay! This conversation is over with!" I jumped to my feet. He was not allowed to talk about Bella like that. I felt bad enough that I thought of her like that.

"Did I hit a nerve?"

"No more, Emmett. Don't talk like that about the woman I love or I will gladly rip you to pieces," I growled out.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to make sure that she kept you satisfied."

"Four times. I think I'm satisfied," I said as I walked out of the room and up the stairs. Strangely, I felt incomplete without her in my arms and by my side.

"Edward!"

BPOV

I took Alice's hand and ran up the stairs. She pulled me onto the bed beside her. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep a smile of pure joy from my face.

"Oh my, Bella. I've never seen anyone smile so much. Your face is going to break," Alice said with a giggle.

"I love him. I love him so much."

"I know you do." The words rang in my mind. They were the same words she said to me yesterday.

"Is this what you were going to tell me yesterday?" I asked curiously.

"Actually, I was going to tell you that Edward can't last anymore than four, because he hasn't fed in over a week, but I didn't think you would understand what I meant."

I burst out laughing. "I wouldn't have. Thank you so much, Alice, for everything that you did. You are the best sister ever."

But she didn't answer me. I looked into her eyes. They were blank. She was having a vision.

"Edward!" I yelled and he was instantly by my side. I heard him groan.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"They're here," Alice whispered.

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A/N: Reviews are love. I've said it before and it's still true. 


	19. Ending

Disdclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer

A/N: I redid the chapter alittle. I'm still not fully satisfied with it, but...what can you do?

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"They're here." 

Edward jumped into full attack mode. "What are their plans and are there any weaknesses?"

"James wants to fight you. He wants to win Bella 'fairly', so that we'll have no reason to kick his a-" I cut her off.

"Why does he want to fight Edward?" I asked, worried. Never before had I seen James lose a fight.

"I just went over this, Bella. Weren't you paying attention? James is smart enough to know that he can't win if we are all fighting to keep you here with us. He wants to take down Edward and 'win' you." I rolled my eyes. That was the most idiotic plan. I mean seriously, I thought James was smarter than that.

"What about Victoria?" Edward asked.

Alice shook her head nervously. "She's fuzzy. I can't get anything definite."

"She's the one you need to watch out for. I'm guessing that James's plan is just a ploy to seperate me from Edward, so that she can try to take me. But she is forgetting one major thing."

"Oh, and what is that?" I looked up at Edward. His eyes were too serious, not at all like they had been just minutes ago.

"That I know her gift and that I can take it away.," I said with confidence. Edward needed to calm down. And if I couldn't be calm for him, then I could atleast pretend to be calm.

"What is Victoria's gift?" Alice asked.

"She has an uncanny ability to escape and to help others escape. I take that away and she can't get me."

"Will that work?" Edward asked Alice. She closed her eyes and re-opened them a few seconds later.

"You and Bella will go out and meet them. James will explain the situation and you will agree to fight him. At that time, Bella will take away both Victoria's escaping ability and James' tracker instincts. It should work out fine."

I stared at her. Victoria's gift I could manage, but could I really control James' too? I didn't know if I was capable of it. What if I couldn't take it? Or I took it too late or too early? I could ruin everything.

"Bella, Love, relax. Everything will be fine. Alice saw that you can do this. I know that you can do this." Edward kissed my lips lightly. I barely felt them, yet it sent a shiver down my spine. I nodded.

Alice came up and wrapped her arms tightly around me. My heart broke. If I couldn't do this, if I failed to take away their powers then this could be the last time I ever saw my favorite sister.

"I love you, Alice." My voice cracked as I spoke.

"Everything will be fine, Bella, Honey. Just relax. You can do this."

I shook my head. "What if I can't? I'll never see you again."

"Stop talking like that. I know that you can do this. I've seen it. I'm a psychic, remember?" She joked with me. I just held her tighter.

"Come on, Love. We need to go tell the others the plan," Edward said and I let go of Alice.

Edward took my hand and slowly, as slow a human, walked down the stairs. The rest of the family was sitting in the living room. They seemed to know what was going on without us needing to tell them anything.

Esme came up and grabbed me. She held me as tightly as I held Alice just moments before. More than anything, I wanted to control this situation. I had never tried to use my gift in the middle of a fight. I was sure that I couldn't, but I wanted to. I needed to, so that I could come back and be with the family that I loved.

"Be safe," Esme whispered to me.

"I will," I whispered back.

Carlisle came up next. For a three hundred year old vampire, he looked too young, but at that moment his face grew rough, making him appear to have aged. He didn't want to lose us. I didn't want to lose him either. He had become like a father to me in just a few days. Carlisle didn't say anything. He just met my eyes and nodded.

Jasper walked up to me and hugged me. He picked me up in his arms, so that I was eye level with him. He smiled a very small, discreet smile.

"You promised that you would be sticking around," he reminded me.

"I will be. You should know that I don't break my promises." My throat felt dry. Jasper kissed my forehead and put me back on the ground.

Rosalie was next in the parade of hugs. We had had our ups and downs, lots of ups and a couple downs, but I honestly loved her. She felt like a real sister to me.

"You can do this, Bella."

"So everyone keeps telling me," I replied.

Last up was Emmett. I mentally blushed just thinking about what he would have to say. Emmett loved to embarrass people, that's what Tanya had told me. But what she had failed to tell me was that he was funny and sweet and protective.

"I love you, little sister. Come back safe." His eyes were so serious.

"I love you too, Emmett." I felt like crying.

"You have to come back to us. Promise me."

"I promise," I replied instantly.

"Good. And I know that you can do this. I mean seriously, Bella, four times? You can do anything." I turned to look at Edward, my jaw dropped.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen!" I couldn't believe the embarrassment I felt. Nothing else that had ever happened to me was even close to how embarrassed I was now.

"I'm sorry," he offered.

"Save it. You won't need to worry about getting tired anymore, because you won't be getting any for awhile."

"Bella," he whined. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Emmett, I'm going to kill you."

Emmett stepped in for Edward's defense then. He, apparently, didn't want to die. "You really shouldn't blame Edward. I provoked him into saying it. He threatened to kill me if I said anymore, but I kept talking, so he left the room."

"Fine. Edward is ungrounded. But you, Emmett Cullen, are going to be minus one power for awhile. Your sentence begins as soon as I get back."

Edward took my hand and we walked outside. We followed their scent into a clearing. In front of us stood my two least favorite people on the planet.

"We know the rules," Edward said before either of them had a chance to speak.

"Do they?" James asked, referring to our family.

"Yes. They won't interfer, unless you break the rules. Then, they will do whatever necessary to make sure you die a very painful death," Edward said with a smile.

"Fine by me. Let's begin," James said ceremoniously. Victoria removed herself from James' side.

Edward pulled me around to face him, his back to the others. I just stared up into his tragically beautiful eyes. My heart broke. If they took me, then I couldn't survive. If they hurt Edward, I couldn't survive. He was everything I needed and wanted. Life without him was worthless.

"I love you more than life, more than music, even more than my Volvo. I want you forever, you and only you." He smiled wide.

"I love you more than this whole world. I want to be yours forever," I replied.

"Then you will be, after this is all over with," he promised me and I believed him.

He gently pushed his lips to mine. Then, he let go of me. I walked over towards Victoria, remaining in a fighting stance. I knew what she wanted, what she planned on doing.

James and Edward began fighting, so I knew it was my turn to do what I could. As I began to focus, Victoria pounced on me. I kicked her off and worked on getting rid of her gift first. Then, atleast, she wouldn't be able to get too far away with me. Victoria's gift was hard to take. Her mind had defense after defense built in. I tried to focus on her gift, while trying to not get my butt kicked. She kicked me into a tree. I pulled myself back to my feet.

I thought this was impossible. I couldn't fight and take her power. I wasn't ready. I wasn't strong enough. Plain and simple, I was going to die and then Edward would die too. Still, I focused. She knocked me to the ground again and started to tear me apart. I was dead, or would be in a few seconds. Somehow, miraculously, I managed to take it. I took her gift. As soon as I did, her eyes went pitch black. She faultered in her attack, for just a millisecond, but it was long enough for me to rip her to pieces. I took the lighter from my pocket and threw the flame on her remains.

James, always the wonderful mate, didn't even react as the smoke blew towards him. He and Edward were still fighting and I took the opportunity to take out his gift. If I thought that Victoria had defenses built up, then James had the whole U.S. military standing in a single file line. I had to take out, bypass, and just plain destroy thousands of walls. Finally, I was getting close. I looked at the fight and saw Edward struggling alittle. And by alittle, I mean James had him pinned against a tree. Edward forced him to back up, reacting to a slipped thought. I had to hurry.

"Edward, I'm going to take you both out, okay?"

Before he had a chance to respond, I took the full force of my mind and threw it towards them. I didn't differentiate. I couldn't, not if I wanted this to work. Edward didn't even react. It was as if he didn't feel anything. James, however, stopped. He literally stopped moving. Edward took the opportunity and started to rip him apart. James growled, an ominous, breath-taking growl. I threw Edward my extra lighter. And it was over. Or so I thought.

Out of the forest, a figure appeared. I groaned loudly. When would this all just end?

"What the hell do you want, Laurent?" I asked, exasperated.

As he walked closer, I noticed something different about him.

"I heard that Victoria and James were here, so I came back to help. But it seems you two have taken care of them."

"Yes, we have," Edward wrapped his arm around my waist, possessively.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to win her back. She's happy with you. I get that. I guess that I better be going." He smiled and it lit up his eyes. His topaz eyes.

"Goodbye, Laurent, have a nice life," I said.

"Thanks. I know that you two will."

He disappeared back into the forest. Edward and I started walking back towards the house. It was over. And now it was time to be Edward's, forever, just like I promised.

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A/N: Review? Maybe? 


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